1Ch 22 | EE | STEP | And then David said, ‘We will build the house of the LORD God here. Also, the altar for sacrifices by fire for Israel will be here.’

1 Chronicles 22

Before he dies, David prepares everything to build God’s temple

1 And then David said, ‘We will build the house of the LORD God here. Also, the altar for sacrifices by fire for Israel will be here.’ 2 So he told his officers that they must bring together all the foreign men in Israel. From them he chose men to cut the stones so that the people could build the God’s house. 3 He supplied a lot of iron. That was for things that would hold together its doors and gates and other things. He also gave them more bronze than they could weigh. 4 The people from Tyre and Sidon had brought a lot of cedar wood to David. So David also supplied more pieces of cedar wood than anyone could count.

5 David said, ‘The house for the LORD must be great and beautiful. The people in every country must know about it. My son Solomon is young and he has not made anything like this before. I must make things ready for him.’ So David prepared a lot of everything for the building before he died.

David tells Solomon why he must build the temple

6 Then David sent someone to fetch Solomon. He told him that he must build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel. 7 He said to Solomon, ‘My son, I really wanted to build a house for the name of the LORD my God. 8 But the LORD spoke to me. He said, “You have caused many men to die and you have fought great fights. I know that you have killed many men. So you must not build a house for my name. 9 But you will have a son who will be a quiet man, a man of peace. I will cause all his enemies round this country to give peace to him. His name will be Solomon. I will cause peace for Israel while he is its king. And there will not be any trouble for the country. 10 He will build a house for my name. He will be my son and I will be his father. I will make it sure that he and his descendants will be kings of Israel for all time.”

11 Now, my son, I pray that the LORD will be with you. And I pray that he will help you to finish this building. And so you will build the house of the LORD your God as he said about you. 12 But I pray that the LORD will make you wise. I want him to give wisdom to you when he causes you to rule over Israel. So you will obey the Law of the LORD, your God. 13 Then everything that you do will go well. But you must be careful to obey the laws and the rules that the LORD gave to Moses for Israel. Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid. And do not think that this is too difficult for you to do.’

The things that David has saved to build the temple

14 ‘I have been very careful to make many things ready for you to build the LORD‘s house. I have for you 100,000 talents of gold and 1000,000 talents of silver. And I have more bronze and iron than you can weigh. And I have wood and stone and you must prepare even more. 15 You have many men with you who can cut stone. And you have many men who can work with stone. You have many men who can work with wood. And you have many men who can do any kind of difficult work. 16 And nobody knows how much gold, silver, bronze and iron there is. So now stand up and begin to build. And I pray that the LORD will be with you.’

David tells the leaders that they must help Solomon to build the LORD‘s house

17 Then David sent messages to all the leaders in Israel. He said that they must help his son Solomon. 18 He said to them, ‘The LORD your God is with you and he has let me win fights with all the nations round Israel. Now the LORD and his people rule over all those nations. So he has given you peace everywhere. 19 So you should do only things that will give the LORD your God pleasure. And you should only think things like that. Stand up. Begin to build the LORD God’s holy place, the temple, so that you can put the LORD‘s Covenant Box there. You can also put God’s holy things into the house that you will build for the name of the LORD.’