1 Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
2 So David gave orders to gather the strangers who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to cut out stones to build the house of God. 3 And David prepared large quantities of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gates and for the clamps, and more bronze than could be weighed; 4 and timbers of cedar beyond number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought large quantities of cedar timber to David. 5 David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord shall be exceedingly magnificent, famous, and glorious throughout the lands. Therefore I now will make preparations for it.” So David made ample preparations before his death.
6 Then he called for his son Solomon, and commanded him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a house for the name of the Lord my God. 8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me. 9 Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ 11 Now, my son, the Lord be with you that you may be successful, and build the house of the Lord your God just as He has spoken concerning you. 12 Only the Lord give you discretion and understanding, and put you in charge of Israel, so that you may keep the Law of the Lord your God. 13 Then you will prosper, if you are careful to follow the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed. 14 Now behold, with great pains I have prepared for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold and a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond measure, for they are in great quantity; I have also prepared timber and stone, and you may add to that. 15 Moreover there are many workmen with you, stonecutters, masons of stone, and carpenters; and all of them are skillful in every kind of work. 16 Of the gold, silver, bronze, and iron there is no limit. Arise and work, and may the Lord be with you.”
17 David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon, saying, 18 “Is the Lord your God not with you? And has He not given you rest on every side? For He has handed over to me the inhabitants of the land, and the land is subdued before the Lord and before His people. 19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; then arise, and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the Lord.”
1 Now when David reached old age, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.
3 Now the Levites were counted from thirty years old and upward, and their number by head count of men was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were officers and judges, 5 and four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand were praising the Lord with the instruments which David made for giving praise. 6 David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 Of the Gershonites there were Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan were Jehiel the first, and Zetham and Joel, three. 9 The sons of Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan. 10 The sons of Shimei were Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the first and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became a father’s household, one group for duty.
12 The sons of Kohath were four in number: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 13 The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was set apart to sanctify him as most holy, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before the Lord, to serve Him and bless in His name forever. 14 But as for Moses, the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The son of Gershom was Shebuel the chief. 17 The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 The son of Izhar was Shelomith the chief. 19 The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 The sons of Uzziel were Micah the first and Isshiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died and had no sons, but only daughters; so their relatives, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. 23 The sons of Mushi were three: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.
24 These were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ households, the heads of the fathers’ households of those among them who were counted, in the number of names by their head count, doing the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and upward. 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 Also, the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its utensils for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David, the sons of Levi were counted from twenty years old and upward. 28 For their office is to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of the Lord, in the courtyards and in the chambers, and in the purification of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God, 29 and with the showbread, and the fine flour for a grain offering, and unleavened wafers, or what is baked in the pan or what is well-mixed, and all measures of volume and size. 30 They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the Lord, and likewise at evening, 31 and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord, on the Sabbaths, the new moons and the appointed festivals, in the number determined by the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord. 32 So they are to perform the duties of the tent of meeting, the holy place, and of assisting the sons of Aaron their relatives, for the service of the house of the Lord.
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written:
“There is no righteous person, not even one;
11 There is no one who understands,
There is no one who seeks out God;
12 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The venom of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And they have not known the way of peace.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.
21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? Far from it! On the contrary, we establish the Law.
1 Help, Lord, for the godly person has come to an end,
For the faithful have disappeared from the sons of mankind.
2 They speak lies to one another;
They speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things;
4 Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the devastation of the poor, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will put him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words;
Like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, filtered seven times.
7 You, Lord, will keep them;
You will protect him from this generation forever.
8 The wicked strut about on every side
When vileness is exalted among the sons of mankind.
13 A foolish son is destruction to his father,
And the quarrels of a wife are a constant dripping.
14 House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the Lord.
