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David announced, ‘The house of the Lord God will be built here. Israel's altar for burnt offerings will also be here.’ 2 David gave orders to bring together the outsiders who were living in Israel. He appointed some of them to cut stones. He wanted them to prepare blocks of stone for building the house of God. 3 David provided a large amount of iron to make nails. They were for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings. He provided more bronze than anyone could weigh. 4 He also provided more cedar logs than anyone could count. The people of Sidon and Tyre brought large numbers of logs to David.
5 David said, ‘My son Solomon is young. He's never done anything like this before. The house that will be built for the Lord should be very grand and wonderful. All the nations should consider it to be famous and beautiful. I'll get things ready for it.’ So David got many things ready before he died.
6 Then he sent for his son Solomon. He told him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon, ‘My son, with all my heart I wanted to build a house for the Lord my God. That's where his Name will be. 8 But a message from the Lord came to me. It said, “You have spilled the blood of many people. You have fought many wars. You are not the one who will build a house for my Name. That is because I have seen you spill the blood of many people on the earth. 9 But you are going to have a son. He will be a man of peace. And I will give him peace and rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon. I will give Israel peace and quiet while he is king. 10 He will build a house for my Name. He will be my son. And I will be his father. I will make his kingdom secure over Israel. It will last for ever.”
11 ‘My son, may the Lord be with you. May you have success. May you build the house of the Lord your God, just as he said you would. 12 May the Lord give you good sense. May he give you understanding when he makes you king over Israel. Then you will keep the law of the Lord your God. 13 Be careful to obey the rules and laws the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Then you will have success. Be strong and brave. Don't be afraid. Don't lose hope.
14 ‘I've tried very hard to provide for the Lord's temple. I've provided 3,600 tonnes of gold and 36,000 tonnes of silver. I've provided more bronze and iron than anyone can weigh. I've also given plenty of wood and stone. You can add to it. 15 You have a lot of workers. You have people who can cut stones and people who can lay the stones. You have people who can work with wood. You also have people who are skilled in every other kind of work. 16 Some of them can work with gold and silver. Others can work with bronze and iron. There are more workers than anyone can count. So begin the work. May the Lord be with you.’
17 Then David ordered all Israel's leaders to help his son Solomon. 18 He said to them, ‘The Lord your God is with you. He's given you peace and rest on every side. He's handed over to me the people who are living in the land. The land has been brought under the control of the Lord and his people. 19 So be committed to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. Start building the temple of the Lord God. Then bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord into it. Also bring in the sacred objects that belong to God. The temple will be built for the Name of the Lord.’
21:1–22:19 1 Chronicles records one story of David doing something that God didn't want him to do. This story explains how David came to choose the place where the temple would be built. David had all the fighting men in Israel counted. This was considered an evil deed. It isn't fully understood why this was wrong. Perhaps the way that David counted the men went against the instructions recorded in Exodus 30:12–16. Later David recognised that he had sinned. He repented. God took away David's guilt but still brought judgement against him for what he had done. All of Israel suffered when God punished David. The plague stopped when David built an altar and made sacrifices to honour God. He did this at the threshing floor of a Jebusite man. God heard David's prayers and accepted his offering. God made this clear by sending fire from heaven to the altar. After that, David decided that the temple and its altar would be built there. David was completely committed to having a temple built for God. He understood that God didn't want him to be the one to build it. David made all the plans that were needed so that Solomon could build it. This included appointing workers and gathering all the wood, stone and metals. David explained all the plans to Solomon. He also explained to Solomon the covenant God had made with David's family line. David urged Solomon to be completely committed to the Mount Sinai covenant. He also urged him to start building the temple. He wanted Solomon to keep working on the temple until it was finished.