^19:1Now it came about after this that death came to Nahash, the king of the children of Ammon, and his son became king in his place. ^19:2And David said, I will be a friend to Hanun, the son of Nahash, because his father was a friend to me. So David sent men to him, to give him words of comfort on account of his father. And the servants of David came to Hanun, to the land of the children of Ammon, offering him comfort. ^19:3But the chiefs of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Does it seem to you that David is honouring your father, by sending comforters to you? is it not clear that these men have only come to go through the land and to make secret observation of it so that they may overcome it? ^19:4So Hanun took David's servants, and cutting off their hair and the skirts of their robes up to the middle, sent them away. ^19:5Then certain men went and gave David word of what had been done to them. And he sent out with the purpose of meeting them; for the men were greatly shamed. And the king said, Keep where you are at Jericho till your hair is long again, and then come back. ^19:6And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves hated by David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver as payment for war-carriages and horsemen from Mesopotamia and Aram-maacah and Zobah. ^19:7So with this money they got thirty-two thousand war-carriages, and the help of the king of Maacah and his people, who came and took up their position in front of Medeba. And the children of Ammon came together from their towns for the fight. ^19:8And David, hearing of it, sent Joab with all the army of fighting-men. ^19:9So the children of Ammon came out and put their forces in position on the way into the town; and the kings who had come were stationed by themselves in the field. ^19:10Now when Joab saw that their forces were in position against him in front and at his back, he took all the best men of Israel, and put them in line against the Aramaeans; ^19:11And the rest of the people he put in position against the children of Ammon with Abishai, his brother, at their head. ^19:12And he said, If the Aramaeans are stronger and get the better of me, then come to my help; and if the children of Ammon get the better of you, I will come to your help. ^19:13Take heart, and let us be strong for our people and for the towns of our God; and may the Lord do what seems good to him. ^19:14So Joab and the people who were with him went forward into the fight against the Aramaeans, and they went in flight before him. ^19:15And when the children of Ammon saw the flight of the Aramaeans, they themselves went in flight from Abishai, his brother, and came into the town. Then Joab came back to Jerusalem. ^19:16And when the Aramaeans saw that Israel had overcome them, they sent men to get the Aramaeans who were on the other side of the River, with Shophach, the captain of Hadadezer's army, at their head. ^19:17And word of this was given to David; and he got all Israel together and went over Jordan and came to Helam and put his forces in position against them. And when David's forces were in position against the Aramaeans, the fight was started. ^19:18And the Aramaeans went in flight before Israel; and David put to the sword the men of seven thousand Aramaean war-carriages and forty thousand footmen, and put to death Shophach, the captain of the army. ^19:19And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were overcome by Israel, they made peace with David and became his servants: and the Aramaeans would give no more help to the children of Ammon.

^20:1Now in the spring, at the time when kings go out to war, Joab went out at the head of the armed forces and made waste all the land of the Ammonites and put his men in position before Rabbah, shutting it in. But David was still at Jerusalem. And Joab took Rabbah and made it waste. ^20:2And David took the crown of Milcom from off his head; its weight was a talent of gold and it had stones of great price in it; and it was put on David's head, and he took a great store of goods from the town. ^20:3And he took the people out of the town and put them to work with wood-cutting instruments, and iron grain-crushers, and axes. And this he did to all the towns of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people went back to Jerusalem. ^20:4Now after this there was war with the Philistines at Gezer; then Sibbecai the Hushathite put to death Sippai, one of the offspring of the Rephaim; and they were overcome. ^20:5And again there was war with the Philistines; and Elhanan, the son of Jair, put to death Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the stem of whose spear was like a cloth-worker's rod. ^20:6And again there was war at Gath, where there was a very tall man, who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet; he was one of the offspring of the Rephaim. ^20:7And when he put shame on Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shimea, David's brother, put him to death. ^20:8These were of the offspring of the Rephaim in Gath; they came to their death by the hands of David and his servants.

^21:1Now Satan, designing evil against Israel, put into David's mind the impulse to take the number of Israel. ^21:2And David said to Joab and the captains of the people, Now let all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, be numbered; and give me word so that I may be certain of their number. ^21:3And Joab said, May the Lord make his people a hundred times more in number than they are; but, my lord king, are they not all my lord's servants? why would my lord have this done? why will he become a cause of sin to Israel? ^21:4But the king's word was stronger than Joab's. So Joab went out and went through all Israel and came to Jerusalem. ^21:5And Joab gave David the number of all the people; all the men of Israel, able to take up arms, were one million, one hundred thousand men; and those of Judah were four hundred and seventy thousand men, able to take up arms. ^21:6But Levi and Benjamin were not numbered among them, for Joab was disgusted with the king's order. ^21:7And God was not pleased with this thing; so he sent punishment on Israel. ^21:8Then David said to God, Great has been my sin in doing this; but now, be pleased to take away the sin of your servant, for I have done very foolishly. ^21:9Then the word of the Lord came to Gad, David's seer, saying, ^21:10Go and say to David, The Lord says, Three things are offered to you: say which of them you will have, so that I may do it to you. ^21:11So Gad came to David and said to him, The Lord says, Take whichever you will: ^21:12Three years when there will not be enough food; or three months of war, when you will go in flight before your haters, being in great danger of the sword; or three days of the sword of the Lord, disease in the land, and the angel of the Lord taking destruction through all the land of Israel. Now give thought to the answer I am to take back to him who sent me. ^21:13And David said to Gad, This is a hard decision for me to make: let me come into the hands of the Lord, for great are his mercies: let me not come into the hands of men. ^21:14So the Lord sent disease on Israel, causing the death of seventy thousand men. ^21:15And God sent an angel to Jerusalem for its destruction: and when he was about to do so, the Lord saw, and had regret for the evil, and said to the angel of destruction, It is enough; do no more. Now the angel of the Lord was by the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ^21:16And David, lifting up his eyes, saw the angel of the Lord there between earth and heaven, with an uncovered sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the responsible men, clothed in haircloth, went down on their faces. ^21:17And David said to God, Was it not I who gave the order for the people to be numbered? It is I who have done the sin and the great wrong; but these are only sheep; what have they done? let your hand, O Lord God, be lifted up against me and against my family, but not against your people to send disease on them. ^21:18Then the angel of the Lord gave orders to Gad to say to David that he was to go and put up an altar to the Lord on the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ^21:19And David went up, as Gad had said in the name of the Lord. ^21:20And Ornan, turning back, saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him went to a secret place. Now Ornan was crushing his grain. ^21:21And when David came, Ornan, looking, saw him, and came out from the grain-floor and went down on his face to the earth before him. ^21:22Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place where this grain-floor is, so that I may put up an altar here to the Lord: let me have it for its full price; so that this disease may be stopped among the people. ^21:23And Ornan said to David, Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems right to him. See, I give you the oxen for burned offerings and the grain-cleaning instruments for fire-wood, and the grain for the meal offering; I give it all. ^21:24And King David said to Ornan, No; I will certainly give you the full price for it, because I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or give a burned offering without payment. ^21:25So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. ^21:26And David put up an altar there to the Lord, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings with prayers to the Lord; and he gave him an answer from heaven, sending fire on the altar of burned offering. ^21:27Then the Lord gave orders to the angel, and he put back his sword into its cover. ^21:28At that time, when David saw that the Lord had given him an answer on the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he made an offering there. ^21:29For the House of the Lord, which Moses had made in the waste land, and the altar of burned offerings, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. ^21:30But David was not able to go before it to get directions from the Lord, so great was his fear of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

^22:1Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar for Israel's burned offerings. ^22:2And David gave orders to get together all the men from strange lands who were in the land of Israel; and he put stone-cutters to work, cutting stones for building the house of God. ^22:3And he got together a great store of iron, for the nails for the doors and for the joins; and brass, more in weight than might be measured; ^22:4And cedar-trees without number, for the Zidonians and the men of Tyre came with a great amount of cedar-trees for David. ^22:5And David said, Solomon my son is young and untested, and the house which is to be put up for the Lord is to be very great, a thing of wonder and glory through all countries; so I will make ready what is needed for it. So David got ready a great store of material before his death. ^22:6Then he sent for his son Solomon, and gave him orders for the building of a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. ^22:7And David said to Solomon, My son, it was my desire to put up a house for the name of the Lord my God. ^22:8But the word of the Lord came to me saying, You have taken lives without number and made great wars; I will not let you be the builder of a house for my name, because of the lives you have taken on the earth before my eyes. ^22:9But you will have a son who will be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from wars on every side. His name will be Solomon, and in his time I will give Israel peace and quiet; ^22:10He will be the builder of a house for my name; he will be to me a son, and I will be to him a father; and I will make the seat of his rule over Israel certain for ever. ^22:11Now, my son, may the Lord be with you; and may you do well, and put up the house of the Lord your God, as he has said of you. ^22:12Only may the Lord give you wisdom, and knowledge of his orders for Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. ^22:13And all will go well for you, if you take care to keep the laws and the rules which the Lord gave to Moses for Israel: be strong and take heart; have no fear and do not be troubled. ^22:14Now see, poor though I am, I have got ready for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold and a million talents of silver; and a weight of brass and iron greater than may be measured; and wood and stone have I made ready, and you may put more to it. ^22:15And you have a great number of workmen, cutters and workers of stone and wood, and experts in every sort of work, ^22:16In gold and silver and brass and iron more than may be numbered. Up! then, and to work; and may the Lord be with you. ^22:17Then David gave orders to all the chiefs of Israel to give their help to Solomon his son, saying, ^22:18Is not the Lord your God with you? and has he not given you rest on every side? for the Lord has given the people of the land into my hands, and the land is overcome before the Lord and before his people. ^22:19Now give your heart and soul to the worship of the Lord your God; and get to work on the building of the holy place of the Lord God, so that you may put the ark of the Lord's agreement and the holy vessels of God in the house which is to be made for the name of the Lord.

^23:1Now David was old and full of days; and he made his son Solomon king over Israel. ^23:2And he got together all the chiefs of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. ^23:3And the Levites, all those of thirty years old and over, were numbered; and the number of them, by heads, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand. ^23:4Of these, twenty-four thousand were to be overseers of the work of the house of the Lord, and six thousand were judges and men of authority; ^23:5Four thousand were door-keepers; and four thousand gave praise to the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, for giving praise. ^23:6And David put them into divisions under the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ^23:7Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei. ^23:8The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham and Joel, three. ^23:9The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth and Haziel and Haran, three; these were the heads of the families of Ladan. ^23:10And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zizah and Jeush and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei. ^23:11Jahath was the chief and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah had only a small number of sons, so they were grouped together as one family. ^23:12The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. ^23:13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was made separate and holy, he and his sons for ever, for the care of the most holy things and the burning of offerings before the Lord, to do his work and give blessings in his name for ever. ^23:14And the sons of Moses, the man of God, were put into the list of the tribe of Levi. ^23:15The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ^23:16The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the first. ^23:17And the sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the first; and Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had a great number. ^23:18The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the first. ^23:19The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ^23:20The sons of Uzziel: Micah the first, and Isshiah the second. ^23:21The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. ^23:22And at his death Eleazar had no sons, but only daughters, and their relations, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. ^23:23The sons of Mushi: Mahli and Eder and Jeremoth, three. ^23:24These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord. ^23:25For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his resting-place in Jerusalem for ever; ^23:26And from now, there will be no need for the House of the Lord, and the vessels used in it, to be moved about by the Levites. ^23:27So among the last acts of David was the numbering of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and over. ^23:28Their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron in all the work of the house of the Lord, in the open spaces and in the rooms, in the making clean of all the holy things, in doing all the work of the house of the Lord, ^23:29The holy bread was in their care, and the crushed grain for the meal offering, of unleavened cakes or meal cooked over the fire or in water; they had control of all sorts of weights and measures; ^23:30They had to take their places every morning to give praise and make melody to the Lord, and in the same way at evening; ^23:31At every offering of burned offerings to the Lord, on Sabbaths, and at the new moons, and on the regular feasts, in the number ordered by the law, at all times before the Lord; ^23:32And they had the care of the Tent of meeting and the holy place, under the direction of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the work of the house of the Lord.

^24:1Now the divisions into which the sons of Aaron were grouped were these: the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ^24:2But Nadab and Abihu came to their end before their father, and had no children; so Eleazar and Ithamar did the work of priests. ^24:3And David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, made distribution of them into their positions for their work. ^24:4And there were more chiefs among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar; and this is how they were grouped: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, all heads of families; and of the sons of Ithamar, heads of families, there were eight. ^24:5So they were put into groups, by the Lord's decision, one with another; for there were rulers of the holy place and rulers of the house of God among the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. ^24:6And Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was a Levite, put down their names in writing, the king being present with the rulers, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, and the heads of families of the priests and the Levites; one family being taken for Eleazar and then one for Ithamar, and so on. ^24:7Now the first name to come out was that of Jehoiarib; the second Jedaiah, ^24:8The third Harim, the fourth Seorim, ^24:9The fifth Malchijah, the sixth Mijamin, ^24:10The seventh Hakkoz, the eighth Abijah, ^24:11The ninth Jeshua, the tenth Shecaniah, ^24:12The eleventh Eliashib, the twelfth Jakim, ^24:13The thirteenth Huppah, the fourteenth Jeshebeab, ^24:14The fifteenth Bilgah, the sixteenth Immer, ^24:15The seventeenth Hezir, the eighteenth Happizzez, ^24:16The nineteenth Pethahiah, the twentieth Jehezkel, ^24:17The twenty-first Jachin, the twenty-second Gamul, ^24:18The twenty-third Delaiah, the twenty-fourth Maaziah. ^24:19So they were put into their different groups, to take their places in the house of the Lord, in agreement with the rules made by Aaron their father, as the Lord, the God of Israel, had given him orders. ^24:20And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. ^24:21Of Rehabiah; of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief. ^24:22Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. ^24:23And the sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. ^24:24The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. ^24:25The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. ^24:26The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Jaaziah. ^24:27The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, Shoham and Zaccur and Ibri. ^24:28Of Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. ^24:29Of Kish: the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel. ^24:30And the sons of Mushi: Mahli and Eder and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites by their families. ^24:31Selection was made of these in the same way as of their brothers the sons of Aaron, David the king being present, with Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites; the families of the chief in the same way as those of his younger brother.

^25:1Further, David and the chiefs of the servants of the holy place made selection of certain of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun for the work of prophets, to make melody with corded instruments and brass; and the number of the men for the work they had to do was: ^25:2Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur and Joseph and Nethaniah and Asharelah, sons of Asaph; under the direction of Asaph, acting as a prophet under the orders of the king; ^25:3Of Jeduthun: the six sons of Jeduthun, Gedaliah and Zeri and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah and Mattithiah; under the direction of their father Jeduthun who, acting as a prophet, with corded instruments gave praise and glory to the Lord. ^25:4Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth; ^25:5All these were sons of Heman, the king's seer in the words of God. And to make great his power God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ^25:6All these, under the direction of their father, made music in the house of the Lord, with brass and corded instruments, for the worship of the house of God; Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman being under the orders of the king. ^25:7And the number of them, with their brothers who were trained and expert in making melody to the Lord, was two hundred and eighty-eight. ^25:8And selection was made of them for their special work, all having equal chances, small as well as great, the teacher as the learner. ^25:9Now of the group of Asaph, the first name to come out was Joseph; the second Gedaliah; he and his brothers and sons were twelve? ^25:10The third Zaccur, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:11The fourth Izri, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:12The fifth Nethaniah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:13The sixth Bukkiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:14The seventh Jesharelah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:15The eighth Jeshaiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:16The ninth Mattaniah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:17The tenth Shimei, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:18The eleventh Azarel, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:19The twelfth Hashabiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:20The thirteenth Shubael, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:21The fourteenth Mattithiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:22The fifteenth Jeremoth, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:23The sixteenth Hananiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:24The seventeenth Joshbekashah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:25The eighteenth Hanani, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:26The nineteenth Mallothi, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:27The twentieth Eliathah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:28The twenty-first Hothir, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:29The twenty-second Giddalti, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:30The twenty-third Mahazioth, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; ^25:31The twenty-fourth Romamti-ezer, with his sons and his brothers, twelve.

^26:1For the divisions of the door-keepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah, the son of Kore, of the sons of Ebiasaph. ^26:2And Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the oldest, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, ^26:3Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. ^26:4And Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the oldest, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethanel the fifth, ^26:5Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth; for the blessing of God was on him. ^26:6And Shemaiah his son had sons, rulers over the family of their father, for they were able men. ^26:7The sons of Shemaiah: Othni and Rephael and Obed, Elzabad, whose brothers were great men of war, Elihu and Semachiah. ^26:8All these were sons of Obed-edom: they and their sons and their brothers, able men and strong for the work; sixty-two sons of Obed-edom. ^26:9Meshelemiah had sons and brothers, eighteen able men. ^26:10And Hosah, a son of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the oldest, his father made him chief); ^26:11Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: Hosah had thirteen sons and brothers. ^26:12Of these were the divisions of the door-keepers, men of authority, having responsible positions like their brothers to be servants in the house of the Lord. ^26:13And the families were taken by the decision of the Lord for every door; the small family had the same chance as the great. ^26:14And the care of the door on the east came out for Shelemiah. Then the name of Zechariah his son, a man wise in discussion, came out, and the door on the north was given to him. ^26:15To Obed-edom, that on the south; and to his sons, the store-house. ^26:16To Hosah, the door on the west, by the door of Shallecheth, at the footway which goes up, watch by watch. ^26:17On the east were six Levites a day, and on the north and the south four a day, and for the store-house two and two. ^26:18For the pillared way, on the west, four at the footway and two at the pillared way itself. ^26:19These were the divisions of door-keepers, of the sons of the Korahites and of the sons of Merari. ^26:20And the Levites their brothers were responsible for the stores of the house of God and the holy things. ^26:21The sons of Ladan: sons of the Gershonites of the family of Ladan, heads of families of Ladan the Gershonite, Jehieli. ^26:22The sons of Jehieli: Zetham and Joel, his brother, had the care of the stores of the house of the Lord. ^26:23Of the Amramites, of the Izharites, of the Hebronites, of the Uzzielites: ^26:24And Shebuel, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was controller of the stores. ^26:25And his brothers: of Eliezer, Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomoth his son. ^26:26Shelomoth and his brothers were responsible for all the store of holy things which David the king and the heads of families, the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and the captains of the army, had given to the Lord. ^26:27From the goods taken in war, they gave, as a holy offering, materials for the building of the house of the Lord. ^26:28And everything Samuel the prophet and Saul, the son of Kish, and Abner, the son of Ner, and Joab, the son of Zeruiah, had made holy; whatever anyone had given, it was under the care of Shelomoth and his brothers. ^26:29Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons had to do all the public business of Israel, in relation to judges and men in authority. ^26:30Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brothers, seventeen hundred able men, were overseers of Israel on the other side of the Jordan, to the west, being responsible for all the work of the Lord's house and for the work done by the king's servants. ^26:31Of the Hebronites, Jerijah was the chief of all the Hebronites, in their generations by families. In the fortieth year of the rule of David a search was made, and able men were seen among them at Jazer of Gilead. ^26:32And his brothers were two thousand, seven hundred able men, heads of families, whom King David made overseers over the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in everything to do with God, and for the king's business.

^27:1Now the number of the children of Israel, that is, the heads of families, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and the men in authority who were servants of the king in anything to do with the divisions which came in and went out month by month through all the months of the year, in every division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:2Over the first division for the first month was Ishbaal, the son of Zabdiel; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:3He was of the sons of Perez, and the chief of all the captains of the army for the first month. ^27:4And over the division for the second month was Eleazar, the son of Dodai the Ahohite, the ruler; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:5The third captain of the army for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:6This is the same Benaiah who was the great man of the thirty, chief of the thirty; and in his division was Ammizabad his son. ^27:7The fourth captain for the fourth month was Asahel, the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:8The fifth captain for the fifth month was Shamhuth the Izrahite; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:9The sixth captain for the sixth month was Ira, the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:10The seventh captain for the seventh month was Helez the Pelonite, of the sons of Ephraim; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:11The eighth captain for the eighth month was Sibbecai the Hushathite, of the Zerahites; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:12The ninth captain for the ninth month was Abiezer the Anathothite, of the Benjamites; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:13The tenth captain for the tenth month was Maharai the Netophathite, of the Zerahites; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:14The eleventh captain for the eleventh month was Benaiah the Pirathonite, of the sons of Ephraim; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:15The twelfth captain for the twelfth month was Heldai the Netophathite, of Othniel; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ^27:16And over the tribes of Israel: the ruler of the Reubenites was Eliezer, the son of Zichri; of the Simeonites, Shephatiah, the son of Maacah; ^27:17Of Levi, Hashabiah, the son of Kemuel; of Aaron, Zadok; ^27:18Of Judah, Elihu, one of the brothers of David; of Issachar, Omri, the son of Michael; ^27:19Of Zebulun, Ishmaiah, the son of Obadiah; of Naphtali, Jerimoth, the son of Azriel; ^27:20Of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Azaziah; of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel, the son of Pedaiah; ^27:21Of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo, the son of Zechariah; of Benjamin, Jaasiel, the son of Abner; ^27:22Of Dan, Azarel, the son of Jeroham. These were the captains of the tribes of Israel. ^27:23But David did not take the number of those who were under twenty years old, for the Lord had said that he would make Israel like the stars of heaven in number. ^27:24The numbering was started by Joab, the son of Zeruiah, but he did not go on to the end; and because of it, wrath came on Israel and the number was not recorded in the history of King David. ^27:25And Azmaveth, the son of Adiel, was controller of the king's property; Jonathan, the son of Uzziah, had control of all store-houses in country places and in the towns and little towns and strong places; ^27:26Ezri, the son of Chelub, had authority over the field-workers and farmers; ^27:27Shimei the Ramathite was responsible for the vine-gardens; Zabdi the Shiphmite was responsible for the produce of the vine-gardens and for all the stores of wine; ^27:28Baal-hanan the Gederite was responsible for the olive-trees and the sycamore-trees in the lowlands; and Joash for the stores of oil; ^27:29And Shitrai the Sharonite was responsible for the herds in the grass-lands of Sharon, and Shaphat, the son of Adlai, for those in the valleys; ^27:30Obil the Ishmaelite had control of the camels and Jehdeiah the Meronothite of the she-asses; ^27:31The flocks were in the care of Jaziz the Hagarite. All these were the controllers of King David's property. ^27:32Now Jonathan, David's father's brother, expert in discussion, and a man of good sense, was a scribe; and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni, had the care of the king's sons; ^27:33And Ahithophel was the king's expert in discussion and Hushai the Archite was the king's friend. ^27:34After Ahithophel was Jehoiada, the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar; and the captain of the king's army was Joab.

^28:1And David got together at Jerusalem all the rulers of Israel, the chiefs of the tribes and the captains of the divisions waiting on the king in turn, and the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds and the controllers of all the goods and property of the king and his sons, with the unsexed servants and the great men of war. ^28:2Then David the king got up and said, Give ear to me, my brothers and my people; it was my desire to put up a house, a resting-place for the ark of the Lord's agreement, and for the foot-rest of our God; and I had got material ready for the building of it. ^28:3But God said to me, You are not to be the builder of a house for my name, because you are a man of war and have taken life; ^28:4Though the Lord, the God of Israel, took me out of all my father's family, to be king over Israel for ever, marking out Judah to be chief, and, of the people of Judah, my father's family; and among the sons of my father he was pleased to make me king over all Israel; ^28:5And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me a great number of sons) he has made selection of Solomon to take his place on the seat of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. ^28:6And he said to me, Solomon your son will be the builder of my house and the open spaces round it; for I have taken him to be my son, and I will be his father. ^28:7I will keep his kingdom in its place for ever, if he is strong at all times to do my orders and keep my rules, as at this day. ^28:8So now, before the eyes of all Israel, the people of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, keep and be true to the orders of the Lord your God; so that you may have this good land for yourselves and give it for a heritage to your children after you for ever. ^28:9And you, Solomon my son, get knowledge of the God of your father, and be his servant with a true heart and with a strong desire, for the Lord is the searcher of all hearts, and has knowledge of all the designs of men's thoughts; if you make search for him, he will be near you; but if you are turned away from him, he will give you up for ever. ^28:10Now then, take note; for the Lord has made selection of you to be the builder of a house for the holy place. Be strong and do it. ^28:11Then David gave to his son Solomon the design of the doorway of the house of God and of its houses and its store-houses, and the higher rooms and the inner rooms and the place for the mercy-seat; ^28:12And the design of all he had in his heart for the outer squares of the house of the Lord, and for the rooms all round it, and for the store-houses of the house of the Lord, and for the store-houses for the holy things; ^28:13And for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work in connection with the worship of the house of the Lord, and all the vessels used in the house of the Lord; ^28:14Of gold, by weight, for the vessels of gold, for all the vessels of different uses; and silver for all the vessels of silver by weight, for vessels of different uses; ^28:15And gold by weight for the light-supports and the vessels for the lights, the weight of gold needed for every support and every vessel for lights; and for the silver light-supports, the weight of silver needed for every support and for the different vessels as every one was to be used; ^28:16And gold by weight for the tables for the holy bread for every table, and silver for the silver tables; ^28:17Clear gold for the meat-hooks and the basins and the cups; for the gold basins, gold enough by weight for every basin; and silver by weight for every silver basin; ^28:18And the best gold for the altar of perfumes; and gold for the design of the carriage, for the winged ones whose wings were outstretched covering the ark of the Lord's agreement. ^28:19All this, said David, the design for all these things, has been made dear to me in writing by the hand of the Lord. ^28:20And David said to his son Solomon, Be strong and of a good heart and do your work; have no fear and do not be troubled, for the Lord God, my God, is with you; he will not give you up, and his face will not be turned away from you, till all the work necessary for the house of the Lord is complete. ^28:21And see, there are the divisions of the priests and Levites for all the work of the house of God; and every trained and expert workman will be ready to do for you whatever is needed; and the captains and the people will be under your orders in everything.

^29:1And David the king said to all the people, Solomon my son, the only one who has been marked out by God, is still young and untested, and the work is great, for this great house is not for man, but for the Lord God. ^29:2Now as far as I am able, I have made ready what is needed for the house of my God; the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the silver things, and the brass for the brass things, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; beryls and jewels to be framed, and stones of different colours for ornament; all sorts of stones of great price, and polished building-stone, as much as is needed and more. ^29:3And because this house of God is dear to me, I give my private store of gold and silver to the house of my God, in addition to all I have got ready for the holy house; ^29:4Even three thousand talents of gold of Ophir and seven thousand talents of the best silver, for plating the walls of the house: ^29:5Gold for the gold things, and silver for the silver things, and for every sort of work to be done by the expert workmen. Who then will come forward, offering himself this day for the Lord's work? ^29:6Then the heads of families and the chiefs of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the controllers of the king's business, freely gave themselves; ^29:7And they gave for the use of the house of the Lord, five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, and ten thousand talents of silver, and eighteen thousand talents of brass, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. ^29:8And those who had stones of great price gave them to the store of the house of the Lord, under the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. ^29:9Then the people were glad because their offerings were freely given, for with a true heart they freely gave what they had to the Lord; and David the king was full of joy. ^29:10So David gave praise to the Lord before all the people; and David said, Praise be to you, O Lord the God of Israel, our father for ever and ever. ^29:11Yours, O Lord, is the strength and the power and the glory, and the authority and the honour: for everything in heaven and on earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are lifted up as head over all. ^29:12Wealth and honour come from you, and you are ruler over all, and in your hand is power and strength; it is in your power to make great, and to give strength to all. ^29:13So now, our God, we give you praise, honouring the glory of your name. ^29:14But who am I and what is my people, that we have power to give so freely in this way? for all things come from you, and what we have given you is yours. ^29:15For we, as all our fathers were, are like men from a strange country before you, who have got a place for a time in the land; our days on the earth are like a shade, and there is no hope of going on. ^29:16O Lord our God, all this store, which we have made ready for the building of a house for your holy name, comes from your hand and is yours. ^29:17And I am conscious, my God, that you are the searcher of hearts, taking pleasure in righteousness. As for me, with an upright heart I have freely given all these things; and I have seen with joy your people who are here to make their offerings freely to you. ^29:18O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the deepest thoughts of your people, and let their hearts be fixed and true to you; ^29:19And give to Solomon my son a true heart, to keep your orders, your rules, and your laws, and to do all these things, and to put up this great house for which I have made ready. ^29:20And David said to all the people, Now give praise to the Lord your God. And all the people gave praise to the Lord, the God of their fathers, with bent heads worshipping the Lord and the king. ^29:21And they made offerings to the Lord, and gave burned offerings to the Lord, on the day after, a thousand oxen, a thousand sheep, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and a great wealth of offerings for all Israel. ^29:22And with great joy they made a feast before the Lord that day. And they made Solomon, the son of David, king a second time, putting the holy oil on him to make him holy to the Lord as ruler, and on Zadok as priest. ^29:23So Solomon was put on the seat of the Lord as king in place of his father David, and everything went well for him; and all Israel was under his authority. ^29:24And all the chiefs and the men of war and all the sons of King David put themselves under the authority of Solomon the king. ^29:25And the Lord made Solomon great in the eyes of all Israel, clothing him with glory and honour such as no other king in Israel had had before him. ^29:26Now David, the son of Jesse, was king over all Israel. ^29:27For forty years he was ruling as king over Israel, seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ^29:28And he came to his end after a long life, full of days and great wealth and honour; and Solomon his son became king in his place. ^29:29Now all the acts of David, first and last, are recorded in the words of Samuel the seer, and the words of Nathan the prophet, and the words of Gad the seer; ^29:30Together with all his rule and his power, and the events which took place in his time, in Israel and in all the kingdoms of other lands.

2 Chronicles

^1:1And Solomon, the son of David, made himself strong in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and made him very great. ^1:2And Solomon sent word to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every chief in all Israel, heads of their families. ^1:3Then Solomon, and all the men of Israel with him, went to the high place at Gibeon, because the Tent of meeting of God, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, had made in the waste land, was there. ^1:4But the ark of God had been moved by David from Kiriath-jearim to the place which he had made ready for it, for he had put up a tent for it at Jerusalem. ^1:5And the altar of brass which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the Tent of the Lord; and Solomon and all the people went to give worship there. ^1:6And Solomon went up there to the brass altar before the Lord at the Tent of meeting, offering on it a thousand burned offerings. ^1:7In that night God came to Solomon in a vision, and said to him, Say what I am to give you. ^1:8And Solomon said to God, Great was your mercy to David my father, and you have made me king in his place. ^1:9Now, O Lord God, let your word to David my father come true; for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in number. ^1:10Give me now wisdom and knowledge, so that I may go out and come in before this people: for who is able to be the judge of this great people of yours? ^1:11And God said to Solomon, Because this was in your heart, and you did not make request for money, property, or honour, or for the destruction of your haters, or for long life; but you have made request for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, so that you may be the judge of my people over whom I have made you king: ^1:12Wisdom and knowledge are given to you; and I will give you wealth and honour, such as no king has had before you or ever will have after you. ^1:13So Solomon went back from the high place at Gibeon, from before the Tent of meeting, to Jerusalem; and he was king over Israel. ^1:14And Solomon got together war-carriages and horsemen; he had one thousand, four hundred carriages and twelve thousand horsemen, which he kept, some in the carriage-towns and some with the king at Jerusalem. ^1:15And the king made silver and gold as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedar like the sycamore-trees of the lowland in number. ^1:16And Solomon's horses came out of Egypt; the king's traders got them from Kue at a price. ^1:17A war-carriage might be got from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: they got them at the same rate for all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

^2:1Now it was Solomon's purpose to put up a house for the name of the Lord and a house for himself as king. ^2:2And Solomon had seventy thousand men numbered for transport, and eighty thousand for cutting stone in the mountains, and three thousand, six hundred as overseers. ^2:3And Solomon sent to Huram, king of Tyre, saying, As you did for my father David, sending him cedar-trees for the building of his house, ^2:4See! I am building a house for the name of the Lord my God, to be made holy to him, where perfumes of sweet spices will be burned before him, and the holy bread will be placed at all times, and burned offerings will be offered morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and at the new moons, and on the regular feasts of the Lord our God. This is a law for ever to Israel. ^2:5And the house which I am building is to be great, for our God is greater than all gods. ^2:6But who may have strength enough to make a house for him, seeing that the heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be his resting-place? who am I then to make a house for him? But I am building it only for the burning of perfume before him. ^2:7So now send me an expert worker in gold and silver and brass and iron? in purple and red and blue, and in the cutting of all sorts of ornament, to be with the expert workmen who are here in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom my father David got together. ^2:8And send me cedar-trees, cypress-trees and sandal-wood from Lebanon, for, to my knowledge, your servants are expert wood-cutters in Lebanon; and my servants will be with yours, ^2:9To get trees for me in great numbers, for the house which I am building is to be great and a wonder. ^2:10And I will give as food to your servants, the wood-cutters, twenty thousand measures of grain, and twenty thousand measures of barley and twenty thousand measures of wine and twenty thousand measures of oil. ^2:11Then Huram, king of Tyre, sent Solomon an answer in writing, saying, Because of his love for his people the Lord has made you king over them. ^2:12And Huram said, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, maker of heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, full of wisdom and good sense, to be the builder of a house for the Lord and a house for himself as king. ^2:13And now I am sending you a wise and expert man, Huram who is as my father, ^2:14The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father was a man of Tyre, an expert worker in gold and silver and brass and iron, in stone and wood, in purple and blue and fair linen and red, trained in the cutting of every sort of ornament and the invention of every sort of design; let him be given a place among your expert workmen and those of my lord, your father David. ^2:15So now let my lord send to his servants the grain and the oil and the wine as my lord has said; ^2:16And we will have wood cut from Lebanon, as much as you have need of, and will send it to you on flat boats by sea to Joppa, and from there you may take it up to Jerusalem. ^2:17Then Solomon took the number of all the men from strange lands who were living in Israel, as his father David had done; there were a hundred and fifty-three thousand, six hundred. ^2:18Seventy thousand he put to the work of transport, eighty thousand to cutting stone in the mountains, and three thousand, six hundred as overseers to put the people to work.

^3:1Then Solomon made a start at building the house of the Lord on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, where the Lord had been seen by his father David, in the place which David had made ready in the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ^3:2The building was started in the second month in the fourth year of his rule. ^3:3And Solomon put the base of the house of God in position; by the older measure it was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. ^3:4And the covered way in front of the house was twenty cubits long, as wide as the house, and a hundred and twenty cubits high, all plated inside with the best gold. ^3:5And the greater house was roofed with cypress-wood, plated with the best gold and ornamented with designs of palm-trees and chains. ^3:6And the house was made beautiful with stones of great value, and the gold was gold of Parvaim. ^3:7All the house was plated with gold, the supports, the steps, the walls and the doors; and the walls were ornamented with designs of winged ones. ^3:8And he made the most holy place; it was twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, like the greater house, and was plated all over with the best gold; six hundred talents were used for it. ^3:9And fifty shekels weight of gold was used for the nails. He had all the higher rooms plated with gold. ^3:10And in the most holy place he made images of two winged beings, covering them with gold. ^3:11Their outstretched wings were twenty cubits across; one wing, five cubits long, touching the wall of the house, and the other, of the same size, meeting the wing of the other winged one. ^3:12And in the same way, the wings of the other, five cubits long, were stretched out, one touching the wall and the other meeting the wing of the first winged one. ^3:13Their outstretched wings were twenty cubits across; they were placed upright on their feet, facing the inner part of the house. ^3:14And he made the veil of blue and purple and red, of the best linen, worked with winged ones. ^3:15And in front of the house he made two pillars, thirty-five cubits high, with crowns on the tops of them, five cubits high. ^3:16And he made chains, like neck ornaments, and put them on the tops of the pillars, and a hundred apples on the chains. ^3:17He put up the pillars in front of the Temple, one on the right side and one on the left, naming the one on the right Jachin and that on the left Boaz.

^4:1Then he made a brass altar, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. ^4:2And he made the great water-vessel of metal, round in form, measuring ten cubits across from edge to edge; it was five cubits high and thirty cubits round. ^4:3And under it was a design of flowers all round it, ten to a cubit, circling the water-vessel in two lines; they were made from liquid metal at the same time as the water-vessel. ^4:4It was supported on twelve oxen, three facing to the north, three to the west, three to the south, and three to the east, the water-vessel resting on top of them; their back parts were all turned to the middle of it. ^4:5It was as thick as a man's open hand, and the edge of it was curved like the edge of a cup, like a lily flower; it would take three thousand baths. ^4:6And he made ten washing-vessels, putting five on the right side and five on the left; such things as were used in making the burned offering were washed in them; but the great water-vessel was to be used by the priests for washing themselves. ^4:7And he made the ten gold supports for the lights, as directions had been given for them, and he put them in the Temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ^4:8He made ten tables, and put them in the Temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made a hundred gold basins. ^4:9Then he made the open space for the priests, and the great open space and its doors, plating the doors with brass. ^4:10He put the great water-vessel on the right side of the house to the east, facing south. ^4:11And Huram made all the pots and the spades and the basins. So he came to the end of all the work he did for King Solomon in the house of God: ^4:12The two pillars, and the two crowns on the tops of the pillars, and the network covering the two cups of the crowns on the tops of the pillars; ^4:13And the four hundred apples for the network, two lines of apples for the network covering the two cups of the crowns on the pillars. ^4:14And he made the ten bases and the ten washing-vessels which were on the bases; ^4:15The great water-vessel with the twelve oxen under it. ^4:16All the pots and the spades and the meat-hooks and their vessels, which Huram, who was as his father, made for King Solomon for the house of the Lord, were of polished brass. ^4:17The king made them of liquid metal in the lowland of Jordan, in the soft earth between Succoth and Zeredah. ^4:18So Solomon made all these vessels, a very great store of them, and the weight of the brass used was not measured. ^4:19And Solomon made all the vessels used in the house of God, the gold altar and the tables on which the holy bread was placed, ^4:20And the supports for the lights with their lights, to be burning in the regular way in front of the inmost room, of the best gold; ^4:21The flowers and the vessels for the lights and the instruments used for them, were all of gold; it was the best gold. ^4:22The scissors and the basins and the spoons and the fire-trays, of the best gold; and the inner doors of the house, opening into the most holy place, and the doors of the Temple, were all of gold.

^5:1So all the work which Solomon did for the house of the Lord was complete. And Solomon took the holy things which David his father had given, the silver and the gold and all the vessels, and put them in the store-houses of the house of God. ^5:2Then Solomon sent for all the responsible men of Israel, all the chiefs of the tribes and the heads of families of the children of Israel, to come to Jerusalem and take the ark of the Lord's agreement up out of the town of David, which is Zion. ^5:3And all the men of Israel came together to the king at the feast in the seventh month. ^5:4All the responsible men of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. ^5:5They took up the ark and the Tent of meeting and all the holy vessels which were in the Tent; all these the priests, the Levites, took up. ^5:6And King Solomon and all the men of Israel who had come together there with him, were before the ark, making offerings of sheep and oxen more than might be numbered. ^5:7And the priests took the ark of the Lord's agreement and put it in its place, in the inner room of the house, in the most holy place, under the wings of the winged ones. ^5:8For their wings were outstretched over the place where the ark was, covering the ark and its rods. ^5:9The rods were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place before the inmost room; but they were not seen from outside; and there they are to this day. ^5:10Nothing was in the ark but the two flat stones which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made an agreement with the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. ^5:11Now when the priests had come out of the holy place, (for all the priests who were present had made themselves holy, not keeping to their divisions; ^5:12And the Levites who made the music, all of them, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and brothers, robed in fair linen, were in their places with their brass and corded instruments at the east side of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests blowing horns;) ^5:13And when the players on horns, and those who made melody in song, with one voice were sounding the praise and glory of the Lord; with loud voices and with wind instruments, and brass and corded instruments of music, praising the Lord and saying, He is good; his mercy is unchanging for ever: then the house was full of the cloud of the glory of the Lord, ^5:14So that the priests were not able to keep their places to do their work because of the cloud; for the house of God was full of the glory of the Lord.

^6:1Then Solomon said, O Lord, to the sun you have given the heaven for a living-place, but your living-place was not seen by men, ^6:2So I have made for you a living-place, a house in which you may be for ever present. ^6:3Then, turning his face about, the king gave a blessing to all the men of Israel; and they were all on their feet together. ^6:4And he said, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who himself gave his word to my father David, and with his strong hand has made his word come true, saying, ^6:5From the day when I took my people out of the land of Egypt, no town in all the tribes of Israel has been marked out by me for the building of a house for the resting-place of my name; and I took no man to be a ruler over my people Israel; ^6:6But now I have made selection of Jerusalem, that my name might be there, and of David, to be over my people Israel. ^6:7Now it was in the heart of my father David to put up a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ^6:8But the Lord said to David my father, You did well to have in your heart the desire to make a house for my name: ^6:9But you yourself will not be the builder of the house; but your son, the offspring of your body, he it is who will put up a house for my name. ^6:10And the Lord has kept his word; for I have taken my father David's place on the seat of the kingdom of Israel, as the Lord gave his word; and I have made the house for the name of the Lord the God of Israel. ^6:11And there I have put the ark, in which is the agreement of the Lord, which he made with the people of Israel. ^6:12Then he took his place in front of the altar of the Lord, all the men of Israel being present, ^6:13(For Solomon had made a brass stage, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had put it in the middle of the open space; on this he took his place and went down on his knees before all the meeting of Israel, stretching out his hands to heaven.) ^6:14And he said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth; keeping faith and mercy unchanging for your servants, while they go in your ways with all their hearts; ^6:15For you have kept the word which you gave to your servant David, my father; with your mouth you said it and with your hand you have made it come true this day. ^6:16So now, O Lord, the God of Israel, let your word to your servant David, my father, come true, when you said, You will never be without a man to take his place before me on the seat of the kingdom of Israel; if only your children give attention to their ways, walking in my law, as you have done before me. ^6:17So now, O Lord, the God of Israel, make your word come true which you said to your servant David. ^6:18But is it truly possible that God may be housed with men on earth? see, heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be your resting-place: how much less this house which I have made: ^6:19Still, let your heart be turned to the prayer of your servant and to his prayer for grace, O Lord my God, and give ear to the cry and the prayer which your servant makes before you; ^6:20That your eyes may be open to this house day and night, to this place of which you have said that you would put your name there; to give ear to the prayer which your servant may make, turning to this place. ^6:21And give ear to the prayers of your servant and of your people Israel, when they make their prayers, turning to this place; give ear from heaven your living-place; and hearing have mercy. ^6:22If a man does wrong to his neighbour and has to take an oath, and comes before your altar to take his oath in this house: ^6:23Then let your ear be open in heaven, and be the judge of your servants, giving punishment to the wrongdoer, so that his sin may come on his head; and, by your decision, keeping from evil him who has done no wrong. ^6:24And if your people Israel are overcome in war, because of their sin against you; if they are turned to you again, honouring your name, making prayers and requesting your grace in this house: ^6:25Then give ear from heaven, and let the sin of your people Israel have forgiveness, and take them back again to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers. ^6:26When heaven is shut up and there is no rain, because of their sin against you: if they make prayers with their faces turned to this place, honouring your name and turning away from their sin when you send trouble on them: ^6:27Then give ear from heaven, so that the sin of your servants and the sin of your people Israel may have forgiveness, when you make clear to them the good way in which they are to go; and send rain on your land which you have given to your people for their heritage. ^6:28If there is no food in the land, if there is disease, if the fruits of the earth are damaged by heat or water, locust or worm; if their towns are shut in by their attackers: whatever trouble or whatever disease there may be: ^6:29Whatever prayer or request for your grace is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, whatever his trouble may be, whose hands are stretched out to this house: ^6:30Then give ear from heaven your living-place, answering with forgiveness, and give to every man, whose secret heart is open to you, the reward of all his ways; (for you, and you only, have knowledge of the hearts of the children of men;) ^6:31So that they may give you worship, walking in your ways, as long as they are living in the land which you gave to our fathers. ^6:32And as for the man from a strange land, who is not of your people Israel but comes from a far country because of the glory of your name and your strong hand and your outstretched arm; when he comes to make his prayer, turning to this house: ^6:33Then give ear from heaven your living-place, and give him his desire, whatever it may be; so that all the peoples of the earth may have knowledge of your name, worshipping you as do your people Israel, and may see that this house which I have made is truly named by your name. ^6:34If your people go out to war against their attackers, by whatever way you may send them, if they make their prayers to you turning their faces to this town of yours and to this house which I have put up for your name: ^6:35Then give ear from heaven to their prayer and their cry for grace, and see right done to them. ^6:36If they do wrong against you, (for no man is without sin,) and you are angry with them, and give them up into the power of those who are fighting against them, so that they take them away prisoners to a land far off or near; ^6:37And if they take thought, in the land where they are prisoners, turning again to you, crying out in prayer to you in that land, and saying, We are sinners, we have done wrong, we have done evil; ^6:38If with all their heart and soul they are turned again to you, in the land where they are prisoners, the land where they have been taken, and make their prayers, turning their eyes to their land which you gave to their fathers, and to the town which you took for yourself, and the house which I have made for your name: ^6:39Then give ear from heaven your living-place to their prayer and their cry, and see right done to them, answering with forgiveness your people who have done wrong against you. ^6:40Now, O my God, may your eyes be open and your ears awake to the prayers made in this place. ^6:41Up! now, O Lord God, come back to your resting-place, you and the ark of your strength: let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints be glad in what is good. ^6:42O Lord God, let him whom you have taken for yourself never be given up by you: keep in mind your mercies to David your servant.

^7:1Now when Solomon's prayers were ended, fire came down from heaven, burning up all the offerings; and the house was full of the glory of the Lord. ^7:2And the priests were not able to go into the house of the Lord, for the Lord's house was full of the glory of the Lord. ^7:3And all the children of Israel were looking on when the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord was on the house; and they went down on their knees, with their faces to the earth, worshipping and praising the Lord, and saying, He is good; for his mercy is unchanging for ever. ^7:4Then the king and all the people made offerings before the Lord. ^7:5King Solomon made an offering of twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people kept the feast of the opening of the house of God. ^7:6And the priests were in their places, and the Levites with their instruments of music for the Lord's song, which David the king had made for the praise of the Lord whose mercy is unchanging for ever, when David gave praise by their hand; and the priests were sounding horns before them; and all Israel were on their feet. ^7:7Then Solomon made holy the middle of the open square in front of the house of the Lord, offering the burned offerings there, and the fat of the peace-offerings; for there was not room on the brass altar which Solomon had made for all the burned offerings and the meal offerings and the fat. ^7:8So Solomon kept the feast at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great meeting, for the people had come together from the way into Hamath and from as far as the river of Egypt. ^7:9And on the eighth day they had a holy meeting; the offerings for making the altar holy went on for seven days, and the feast for seven days. ^7:10And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month, he sent the people away to their tents, full of joy and glad in their hearts, because of all the good which the Lord had done to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people. ^7:11So Solomon came to the end of building the house of the Lord and the king's house; and everything which it was in his mind to make in the house of the Lord and for himself had been well done. ^7:12Now the Lord came to Solomon in a vision by night, and said to him, I have given ear to your prayer, and have taken this place for myself as a house where offerings are to be made. ^7:13If, at my word, heaven is shut up, so that there is no rain, or if I send locusts on the land for its destruction, or if I send disease on my people; ^7:14If my people, on whom my name is named, make themselves low and come to me in prayer, searching for me and turning from their evil ways; then I will give ear from heaven, overlooking their sin, and will give life again to their land. ^7:15Now my eyes will be open and my ears awake to the prayers made in this place. ^7:16For I have taken this house for myself and made it holy, so that my name may be there for ever; and my eyes and my heart will be there at all times. ^7:17And as for you, if you will go on your way before me as David your father did, doing whatever I have given you orders to do and keeping my laws and my decisions: ^7:18Then I will make strong the seat of your kingdom, as I gave my word to David your father, saying, You will never be without a man to be ruler in Israel. ^7:19But if you are turned away from me, and do not keep my orders and my laws which I have put before you, but go and make yourselves servants to other gods, giving them worship: ^7:20Then I will have this people uprooted out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will put away from before my eyes, and make it an example and a word of shame among all peoples. ^7:21And this house will become a mass of broken walls, and everyone who goes by will be overcome with wonder, and will say, Why has the Lord done so to this land and to this house? ^7:22And their answer will be, Because they were turned away from the Lord, the God of their fathers, who took them out of the land of Egypt, and took for themselves other gods and gave them worship and became their servants: that is why he has sent all this evil on them.

^8:1Now at the end of twenty years, in which time Solomon had put up the house of the Lord and a house for himself, ^8:2He took in hand the building up of the towns which Huram had given him, causing the children of Israel to make living-places for themselves there. ^8:3And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and overcame it. ^8:4And he put up the buildings of Tadmor in the waste land, and of all the store-towns in Hamath; ^8:5And of Beth-horon the higher and the lower, walled towns with walls and doorways and locks; ^8:6And of Baalath, and all the store-towns which Solomon had, and the towns where he kept his war-carriages and his horse men, and everything which it was his pleasure to put up in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land under his rule. ^8:7As for all the rest of the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel: ^8:8Their men who were still living in the land, and whom the children of Israel had not put an end to, these Solomon put to forced work, as is done to this day; ^8:9But Solomon did not make use of the children of Israel as servants for his work; they were men of war, his chiefs and his captains, and captains of his war-carriages and his horsemen. ^8:10Now these were the chief men in authority whom King Solomon had: two hundred and fifty of them, in authority over the people. ^8:11Then Solomon made Pharaoh's daughter come up from the town of David to the house which he had made for her; for he said, I will not have my wife living in the house of David, king of Israel, because those places where the ark of the Lord has come are holy. ^8:12Then Solomon made burned offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had put up in front of the covered way, ^8:13Offering every day what had been ordered by Moses, on the Sabbaths and at the new moon and at the regular feasts three times a year, that is at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tents. ^8:14And he gave the divisions of the priests their places for their work, as ordered by his father David, and to the Levites he gave their work of praise and waiting on the priests, to do what was needed day by day; and he gave the door-keepers their places in turn at every door; for so David, the man of God, had given orders. ^8:15All the orders given by the king to the priests and Levites, in connection with any business or stores, were done with care. ^8:16And all the work of Solomon was complete, from the day when he put the base of the Lord's house in position, till Solomon had come to the end of building the Lord's house. ^8:17Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth by the sea in the land of Edom. ^8:18And Huram sent him, by his servants, ships and experienced seamen, who went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir and came back with four hundred and fifty talents of gold, which they took to King Solomon.