Chapter 22

¹ And David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar for whole-burnt-offering for Israel.

² And David gave orders to gather all the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he appointed stone-hewers to hew polished stones to build the house to God. ³ And David prepared much iron for the nails of the doors and the gate; the hinges also and brass in abundance, there was no weighing of it. ⁴ And cedar threes without number: for the Sidonians and the Tyrians brought cedar trees in abundance to David. ⁵ And David said, My son Solomon is a tender child, and the house for me to build to the Lord is for superior magnificence for a name and for a glory through all the earth: I will make preparation for it. And David prepared abundantly before his death.

⁶ And he called Solomon his son, and commanded him to build the house for the Lord God of Israel. ⁷ And David said to Solomon, My child, it was in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord God. ⁸ But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast carried on great wars: thou shalt not build a house to my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth before me. ⁹ Behold, a son ¹shall be born to thee, he shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. ¹⁰ He shall build a house to my name; and he shall be a son to me, and I will be a father to him; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom in Israel for ever. ¹¹ And now, my son, the Lord shall be with thee, and prosper thee; and thou shalt build a house to the Lord thy God, as he spoke concerning thee. ¹² Only may the Lord give thee wisdom and prudence, and strengthen thee over Israel, both to keep and to do the law of the Lord thy God. ¹³ Then will he prosper thee, if thou take heed to do the commandments and judgments which the Lord commanded Moses for Israel: be courageous and strong; fear not, nor be terrified.

¹⁴ And, behold, I according to my poverty have prepared for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a million talents of silver, and brass and iron without measure; for it is abundant; and

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I have prepared timber and stones; and do thou add to these. ¹⁵ And of them that are with thee do thou add to the multitude of workmen; let there be artificers and masons, and carpenters, and every skilful workman in every work; ¹⁶ in gold and silver, brass and iron, of which there is no number. Arise and do, and the Lord be with thee.

¹⁷ And David charged all the chief men of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, ¹⁸ Is not the Lord with you? and he has given you rest round about, for he has given into your hands the inhabitants of the land; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people. ¹⁹ Now ²set your hearts and souls to seek after the Lord your God: and rise, and build a sanctuary to your God to carry in the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is ³to be built to the name of the Lord.