And the {Ammonites} went out and took up positions for battle at the entrance of the city. And the kings who had come [were] alone in the field.

And he said, "If Aram is too strong for me, then you must be a help to me, but if the {Ammonites} are too strong for you, then I will help you.

And Joab and the people who [were] with him drew near before Aram for battle, and they fled before him.

And again there was war in Gath. And there was a {very tall} man [there], and {he had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all}. He himself [was] also a descendant of the Rephaim.

And Joab gave the number of the enrollment of the people to David. And it happened [that] all Israel [was] one million one hundred thousand men drawing a sword, and in Judah [were] four hundred and seventy thousand men drawing a sword.

But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the word of the king was repulsive to Joab.

Then David said to God, "I have sinned severely [in] that I have done this thing. But now, please forgive the sin of your servant, for I have been very foolish."

"Go, you must speak to David, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Three [choices] I offer to you. Choose one of them for yourself that I will do to you." '"

So Gad came to David and said to him, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Choose for yourself:

Then David said to Gad, "{I am very troubled}. Let me into the hand of Yahweh, for his compassion is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of a man."

Now the angel of Yahweh had spoken to Gad to say to David that David should go up [and] erect an altar for Yahweh.

Now Ornan was threshing wheat, and Ornan turned and saw the angel, and his four sons with him hid themselves.

And Ornan said to David, "Take [it] to yourself; let my lord the king do what [is] good in his eyes. See, I give the cattle for the burnt offerings and threshing sledges for the wood and wheat for the grain offering--I give [it] all."

But King David said to Ornan, "No, for I will certainly buy [it] at full value; indeed, I will not take what is yours for Yahweh and offer burnt offerings for nothing."

So David gave to Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place.

Then David built an altar there to Yahweh, and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and he called to Yahweh. And he answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering.

But David was not able to go before it to seek God, for he was afraid on account of the sword of the angel of Yahweh.

Then David said, "This will be the house of Yahweh God, and this altar of burnt offering for Israel."

And David provided much iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for the seams, and abundant copper [that] could not be weighed,

and cedar timbers without number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought abundant cedars to David.

Then David said, "Solomon my son [is] a boy and inexperienced, and the house built for Yahweh [must be] exceedingly great in fame and splendor throughout every land. I will make preparations for him." So David provided abundant [materials] before he died.

Then he called to Solomon his son and commanded him to build a house for Yahweh, the God of Israel.

And David said to Solomon his son, "I myself had in my heart to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God,

but it happened [that] the word of Yahweh [came] over me, saying, 'You have shed much blood and have made much war; you shall not build a house for my name because you have shed much blood upon the ground before me.

Behold, a son shall be born to you; he himself will be a man of rest, and I will give rest to him from all his enemies all around, for his name will be Solomon, and peace and quietness I will give to Israel in his days.

He himself will build a house for my name, and he himself will be to me a son, and I [will be] to him as a father, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'

Then you will prosper if you take care to do the statutes and judgments which Yahweh commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and be courageous; fear not and do not be dismayed.

Now see, with great effort I have made provision for the house of Yahweh: 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron [that] cannot be weighed, for there is an abundance. Also timber and stone I have provided, but to these you should add.

"Is not Yahweh your God with you? And has he [not] given you rest all around? For he has put in my hand the inhabitants of the land, and the land is subdued before Yahweh and before his people.

Now set your heart and mind to seek Yahweh your Go, and arise and build the sanctuary of Yahweh God, that the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the holy vessels of God might be brought into the house built for the name of Yahweh.

And the Levites thirty years old and above were counted, and their number according to their head count for the men [was] thirty-eight thousand.

Of these, [David said,] "Twenty-four thousand [are] to direct the work of the house of Yahweh, along with six thousand judges and officials

four thousand gatekeepers, [and] four thousand offering praise with the instruments that I have made for praise."

For the Gershonites [were] Ladan and Shimei.

And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah; these four [were] the sons of Shimei.

And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons. They were enrolled as one for the house of a father.

The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

For David said, "Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.

And also, the Levites do not [need] to carry the tabernacle and all its vessels for its service."

For by the last words of David, they [are] the number of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and above.

For their station [was] {to assist} the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of Yahweh, over the courtyards, over the chambers, and over the cleansing of all the sanctified objects, and [with] the work of the service of the house of God,

and with the rows of bread, the flour, the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and for all the amounts and measurements.

and for every burnt offering offered to Yahweh, on Sabbaths, on new moon festivals, and at the appointed feasts, according to the customary number {required of them}, regularly before Yahweh.

And as for the sons of Aaron, [these were] their divisions. The sons of Aaron [were] Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

And David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their appointments for their service.

They divided them by lot {all alike}, for they were commanders of the sanctuary and commanders of God from among the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar.

And Shemaiah the son of Nethanel, the scribe, from the Levites, recorded them before the king, the princes, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the {families} of the priests and Levites, one father's house drawn by Lot for Eleazar and one drawn by lot for Ithamar.

These [were] their appointments for their service to come into the house of Yahweh according to their custom by the hand of Aaron their father, as Yahweh the God of Israel had commanded him.

And as for the remainder of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah.

And lots were also cast [for] these, just as their brothers, the sons of Aaron, before David the king, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the {families} for the priests and for the Levites the fathers, {on the principle of the chief and younger brother alike}.

And David and the commanders of the army set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, [of] Heman, and [of] Jeduthun, who prophesied with stringed instruments, with harps, and with cymbals. And their inventory of the men of the work [and] for their duty was:

for the sons of Asaph: Zakkur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, sons of Asaph, under the hand of Asaph, who prophesied under the hands of the king.

All these [were] under the {direction} of their father in the music of the house of Yahweh, with cymbals, harps, and stringed instruments for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman [were] under the {direction} of the king.

And their number, along with their brothers, trained singers, all the skilled people for Yahweh, were two hundred and eighty-eight.

And they cast lots [for] responsibilities {on the principle of small and great alike}, teacher with student.

And the first lot for Asaph went out to Joseph; the second to Gedaliahu; he and his brothers and his twelve sons.

As for the working groups of the gatekeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, from the sons of Asaph.

Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth; for God blessed him.

And to Shemaiah his son were sons born who [were] rulers in the house of their father, for they [were] mighty warriors of ability.

All these from the sons of Obed-Edom, they and their sons, and their brothers [were] men of ability with strength for service; sixty-two of Obed-Edom.

And they cast lots, small and great alike, by their fathers' houses, {for their gates}.

And the lot fell to the east to Shelemiah. As for Zechariah his son, {a wise counselor}, they cast lots. And his lot came out for the north.

For Shuppim and Hosah [it went out] for the west, at the gate of Shalleketh, on the road that goes up, guard for guard.

To the east, six Levites; to the north, four daily; to the south, four daily; and at the storerooms, two [by] two.

For the court to the west, four at the road, two at the court.

For the Izharites: Kenaniah and his sons [were appointed] to the duties outside of Israel as officials and as judges.

For the Hebronites: Hashabiah and his brothers, one thousand seven hundred men of ability, [were] over the administration of Israel beyond the Jordan westward, for all the work of Yahweh and for the service of the king.

For the Hebronites: Jeriah the chief of the Hebronites for the genealogy for the {families}. (In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were examined, and there was found among them mighty warriors of strength at Jazer in Gilead.)

And his brothers, sons of ability, [were] two thousand seven hundred heads of the {families}, and King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, for every matter of God and matter of the king.

And as for the number of the {Israelites}, the heads of {families}, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and their officials who serve the king in all matters of the working groups that came and went, month by month, throughout all the months of the year, each working group: twenty-four thousand.

Over the first working group for the first month: Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

From the sons of Perez [who was] the chief of the commanders of the armies for the first month.

And over the working groups of the second month: Dodai the Ahohite and his working group, and Mikloth the commander. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

The third commander of the army for the third month [was] Benaiah son of Jehoiada the chief priest. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

The fourth, for the fourth month, [was] Asahel the brother of Joab and his son Zebadiah after him. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

The fifth, for the fifth month, the commander [was] Shamhuth the Izrahite. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

The sixth, for the sixth month, [was] Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

The seventh, for the seventh month, [was] Helez the Pelonite, from the sons of Ephraim. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

The eighth, for the eighth month, [was] Sibbecai the Hushathite of the Zerahites. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

The ninth, for the ninth month, [was] Abiezer the Anathothite of the Benjamites. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

The tenth, for the tenth month, [was] Maharai the Netophathite of the Zerahites. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

The eleventh, for the eleventh month, [was] Benaiah the Pirathonite from the sons of Ephraim. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

The twelfth, for the twelfth month, [was] Heldai the Netophathite, of Othniel. And [he was] over his working group [of] twenty-four thousand.

And over the tribes of Israel, for the Reubenites: the commander [was] Eliezer the son of Zikri. For the Simeonites: Shephatiah the son of Maacah.

For Levi: Hashabiah the son of Kemuel. For Aaron, Zadok.

For Judah: Elihu, from the brothers of David. For Issachar: Omri the son of Michael.

For Zebulun: Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah. For Naphtali: Jerimoth the son of Azriel.

For the Ephraimites: Hoshea the son of Azaziah. For the half-tribe of Manasseh: Joel the son of Pedaiah.

For the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead: Iddo the son of Zechariah. For Benjamin: Jaasiel son of Abner.

For Dan: Azarel the son of Jeroham. These [were] the commanders of the tribes of Israel.

And over the vineyards [was] Shemei the Ramathite. And over the produce in the vineyards for the storehouses of the wine [was] Zabdi the Shiphmite.

And King David rose to his feet and said, "Listen to me, my brothers and my people. {I myself wanted} to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the footstool of our God, and I prepared to build.

But God said to me, 'You may not build a house for my name because you [are] a man of war, and you have shed blood.'

But Yahweh the God of Israel chose me from all of the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to reign over all Israel.

And from all my sons--for Yahweh has given many sons to me--he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Yahweh over Israel.

And he said to me, 'Solomon your son, he himself shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him as a son to myself, and I myself will be as a father to him,

"And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for Yahweh searches all hearts and understands every plan and [all] thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever.

Look now, for Yahweh has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it!"

and the plan of all {that he had in mind} for the courtyards of the house of Yahweh and for all the surrounding storage rooms, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for sanctified objects,

and for the working groups of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh, and for all the vessels for the service of the house of Yahweh,