1Then David said, “This is the house of Yahweh God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
2So David gave orders to gather the resident foreigners who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to hew dressed stones for building the house of God.
3David also prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates and for the clamps, and bronze in abundance beyond weighing,
4and cedar timbers beyond number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought David cedar timbers in abundance.
5For David said, “Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house to be built for Yahweh must be exceedingly great, for a name and for glory to all the lands. So let me make preparation for it.” And David prepared abundantly before his death.
6Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for Yahweh, the God of Israel.
7David said to Solomon, “My son, as for me, it was in my heart to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God.
8But the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ‘You have shed blood in abundance and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house for my name, because you have shed much blood on the earth before me.
9Behold, a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. For Solomon will be his name, and I will grant peace and quiet to Israel in his days.
10He will build a house for my name. He will be a son to me, and I will be a father to him, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.
11Now, my son, may Yahweh be with you, so that you may succeed and build the house of Yahweh your God, as he has spoken concerning you.
12Only may Yahweh give you insight and understanding, and put you in charge over Israel, so as to keep the law of Yahweh your God.
13Then you will succeed, if you are careful to observe the statutes and the judgments that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous; do not fear and do not be dismayed.
14And behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the house of Yahweh a hundred thousand talents of gold and a thousand thousand talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for it is in abundance; and timber and stones I have prepared, and to these you may add.
15With you also are workmen in abundance—stonecutters, and craftsmen in stone and wood, and every skilled man in every kind of work.
16Of the gold, the silver, the bronze, and the iron there is no counting. Arise and act, and may Yahweh be with you.
17Then David commanded all the officials of Israel to help Solomon his son:
18“Is not Yahweh your God with you? And has he not given you rest on every side? For he has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before Yahweh and before his people.
19Now set your heart and your soul to seek Yahweh your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of Yahweh God, to bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for the name of Yahweh.”
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