Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have many sons, so their whole clan was not as numerous as the sons of Judah.

David went out to meet them and said, "If you come to me in peace and want to help me, then I will make an alliance with you. But if you come to betray me to my enemies when I have not harmed you, may the God of our ancestors take notice and judge!"

He told them: "You are the leaders of the Levites' families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves and bring the ark of the Lord God of Israel up to the place I have prepared for it.

Nathan said to David, "You should do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you."

For I have not lived in a house from the time I brought Israel up from Egypt to the present day. I have lived in a tent that has been in various places.

Wherever I moved throughout Israel, I did not say to any of the leaders whom I appointed to care for my people Israel, 'Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?'"'

David went in, sat before the Lord, and said: "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me to this point?

And you did not stop there, O God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant's family. You have revealed to me what men long to know, O Lord God.

What more can David say to you? You have honored your servant; you have given your servant special recognition.

O Lord, for the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great thing in order to reveal your greatness.

for you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a dynasty for him. That is why your servant has had the courage to pray to you.

Now, O Lord, you are the true God; you have made this good promise to your servant.

Now you are willing to bless your servant's dynasty so that it may stand permanently before you, for you, O Lord, have blessed it and it will be blessed from now on into the future."

the Ammonite officials said to Hanun, "Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? No, his servants have come to you so they can get information and spy out the land!"

David told Joab and the leaders of the army, "Go, count the number of warriors from Beer Sheba to Dan. Then bring back a report to me so I may know how many we have."

David said to God, "I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly."

David said to God, "Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep -- what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!"

Ornan told David, "You can have it! My master, the king, may do what he wants. Look, I am giving you the oxen for burnt sacrifices, the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for an offering. I give it all to you."

But the Lord said to me: 'You have spilled a great deal of blood and fought many battles. You must not build a temple to honor me, for you have spilled a great deal of blood on the ground before me.

Look, you will have a son, who will be a peaceful man. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. Indeed, Solomon will be his name; I will give Israel peace and quiet during his reign.

Now, look, I have made every effort to supply what is needed to build the Lord's temple. I have stored up 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and so much bronze and iron it cannot be weighed, as well as wood and stones. Feel free to add more!

You also have available many workers, including stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and an innumerable array of workers who are skilled

Jahath was the oldest and Zizah the second oldest. Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were considered one family with one responsibility.

King David rose to his feet and said: "Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I wanted to build a temple where the ark of the Lord's covenant could be placed as a footstool for our God. I have made the preparations for building it.

But God said to me, 'You must not build a temple to honor me, for you are a warrior and have spilled blood.'

The Lord God of Israel chose me out of my father's entire family to become king over Israel and have a permanent dynasty. Indeed, he chose Judah as leader, and my father's family within Judah, and then he picked me out from among my father's sons and made me king over all Israel.

He said to me, 'Solomon your son is the one who will build my temple and my courts, for I have chosen him to become my son and I will become his father.

So I have made every effort to provide what is needed for the temple of my God, including the gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, as well as a large amount of onyx, settings of antimony and other stones, all kinds of precious stones, and alabaster.

Now, to show my commitment to the temple of my God, I donate my personal treasure of gold and silver to the temple of my God, in addition to all that I have already supplied for this holy temple.

O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all.

"But who am I and who are my people, that we should be in a position to contribute this much? Indeed, everything comes from you, and we have simply given back to you what is yours.

O Lord our God, all this wealth, which we have collected to build a temple for you to honor your holy name, comes from you; it all belongs to you.

I know, my God, that you examine thoughts and are pleased with integrity. With pure motives I contribute all this; and now I look with joy as your people who have gathered here contribute to you.

Make my son Solomon willing to obey your commands, rules, and regulations, and to complete building the palace for which I have made preparations."