2DAVID NOW GAVE ORDERS to assemble the aliens resident in Israel, and he set them as masons to dress hewn stones and to build the house of God. 3He laid in a great store of iron to make nails and clamps for the doors, more bronze than could be weighed 4and cedar-wood without limit; the men of Sidon and Tyre brought David an ample supply of cedar. 5David said, 'My son Solomon is a boy of tender years, and the house that is to be built to the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, renowned and celebrated in every land; therefore I must make preparations for it myself.' So David made abundant preparation before his death.
6He sent for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the LORD the God of Israel. 7'Solomon, my son,' he said, 'I had intended to build a house in honour of the name of the LORD my God; 8but the LORD forbade me and said, "You have shed much blood in my sight and waged great wars; for this reason you shall not build a house in honour of my name. 9 But you shall have a son who shall be a man of peace; I will give him peace from all his enemies on every side; his name shall be Solomon, 'Man of Peace', and I will grant peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10He shall build a house in honour of my name; he shall be my son and I will be a father to him, and I will establish the throne of his sovereignty over Israel for ever." 11Now, Solomon my son, the LORD be with you! May you prosper and build the house of the LORD your God, as he promised you should. 12But may the LORD grant you wisdom and discretion, so that when he gives you authority in Israel you may keep the law of the LORD your God. 13You will prosper only if you are careful to observe the decrees and ordinances which the LORD enjoined upon Moses for Israel; be strong and resolute, neither faint-hearted nor dismayed.
14'In spite of all my troubles, I have here ready for the house of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of gold and a million talents of silver, with great quantities of bronze and iron, more than can be weighed; timber and stone, too, I have got ready; and you may add to them. 15Besides, you have a large force of workmen, masons, sculptors, and carpenters, and countless men skilled in work of every kind, 16in gold and silver, bronze and iron. So now to work, and the LORD be with you!'
17David ordered all the officers of Israel to help Solomon his son: 18'Is not the LORD your God with you? Will he not give you peace on every side? For he has given the inhabitants of the land into my power, and they will be subject to the LORD and his people. 19Devote yourselves, therefore, heart and soul, to seeking guidance of the LORD your God, and set about building his sanctuary, so that the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and God's holy vessels may be brought into a house built in honour of his name.'
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