Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
1 Chronicles 28
David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel: the officials of the tribes, the officials of the divisions serving the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials over all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, along with the court officials, the warriors, and every mighty warrior.
Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God; and I made preparations to build. Yet God said to me, ‘You will not build a house for my name, for you are a man of battles and have shed blood.’ Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me from all my father’s house to be king over Israel forever. For he chose Judah as ruler, and in the house of Judah, my father’s house; and among my father’s sons, he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. And from among all my sons—for the LORD has given me many sons—he chose my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingship of the LORD over Israel. He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him for myself as a son, and I will be a father to him. I will establish his kingship forever, if he remains strong in carrying out my commandments and my judgments, as on this day.’ Now, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God: keep and seek all the commandments of the LORD your God, so that you may possess this good land and leave it as an inheritance to your children after you forever.
“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing soul, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every inclination of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. See now: the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it.”
Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the porch, its buildings, its storehouses, its upper rooms, its inner chambers, and the room of the mercy seat; and the plan of all that was with him in spirit: for the courts of the house of the LORD, for all the chambers around it, for the storehouses of God’s house, and for the storehouses of the holy things; for the divisions of the priests and the Levites, for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all the articles for the service of the house of the LORD; the weight of gold for the gold articles, for every kind of service, and the weight of silver for all the silver articles, for every kind of service; the weight for the gold lampstands and their gold lamps, the weight for each lampstand and its lamps; and for the silver lampstands, the weight for each lampstand and its lamps, according to the service of each lampstand; the weight of gold for the tables of the arrangement, for each table; and silver for the silver tables; the forks, the basins, and the bowls of pure gold; the weight for each gold bowl; and the weight for each silver bowl; and for the altar of incense, refined gold by weight; and the plan for the chariot—the gold cherubim spreading their wings and covering the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
“All this,” David said, “was put in writing from the hand of the LORD upon me; he gave me understanding of all the works of the plan.”
Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Do not fear and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished. And see: the divisions of the priests and the Levites are for every service of God’s house. With you, for every kind of work, is every willing person skilled in every kind of service. The officials and all the people are wholly at your command.”