And said unto them, You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites: Sanctify yourselves, both you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.

For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

Wherever I have walked with all Israel, spoke I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedars?

And I have been with you wherever you have walked, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.

And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me this far?

And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O God; for you have also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.

O LORD, for your servant's sake, and according to your own heart, have you done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.

O LORD, there is none like you, neither is there any God beside you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

And what one nation in the earth is like your people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make you a name of greatness and awesomeness, by driving out nations from before your people, whom you have redeemed out of Egypt?

Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as you have said.

For you, O my God, have told your servant that you will build him a house: therefore your servant has found in his heart to pray before you.

And now, LORD, you are God, and have promised this goodness unto your servant:

And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech you, take away the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.

And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let your hand, I pray you, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on your people, that they should be plagued.

But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars: you shall not build a house unto my name, because you have shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of bronze and iron beyond weighing; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and you may add to it.

But God said unto me, You shall not build a house for my name, because you have been a man of war, and have shed blood.

And he said unto me, Solomon your son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the bronze for things of bronze, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistening stones, and of various colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

Moreover, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have of my own things, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? for all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name comes from your hand, and is all your own.

I know also, my God, that you test the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly unto you.

And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision.

And Solomon said unto God, You have shown great mercy unto David my father, and have made me to reign in his stead.

Now, O LORD God, let your promise unto David my father be established: for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.

And God said to Solomon, Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of your enemies, neither yet have asked long life; but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king:

Wisdom and knowledge are granted unto you; and I will give you riches, and wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had that have been before you, neither shall there any after you have the like.

Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with your servants,

And now I have sent a skillful man, endued with understanding, Huramabi,

But I have built a house of habitation for you, and a place for your dwelling forever.

But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

The LORD therefore has performed his word that he has spoken: for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

And in it have I put the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.

You who have kept with your servant David my father that which you have promised him; and spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.

Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; if only your children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as you have walked before me.

Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you have spoken unto your servant David.

But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house which I have built!

Have respect therefore to the prayer of your servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which your servant prays before you:

That your eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place of which you have said that you would put your name there; to hearken unto the prayer which your servant prays toward this place.

And if your people Israel are defeated before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; and shall return and confess your name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house;

When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you do afflict them;

Then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you have taught them the good way, in which they should walk; and send rain upon your land, which you have given unto your people for an inheritance.

Then hear from the heavens, even from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all people of the earth may know your name, and fear you, as does your people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.

If your people go out to war against their enemies by the way that you shall send them, and they pray unto you toward this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;

Yet if they come to themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto you in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have dealt wickedly;

If they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which you gave unto their fathers, and toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name:

Then hear from the heavens, even from your dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself for a house of sacrifice.

For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever: and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.

And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and shall observe my statutes and my judgments;

Then will I establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel.

But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

And he said unto them, What advice do you give that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that your father did put upon us?

And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: and now, David, see to your own house. So all Israel went to their tents.

Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus says the LORD, You have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.

And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

And there are gathered unto him worthless men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.

Have you not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made yourselves priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.

But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, who minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their service:

And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the showbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the lampstand of gold with its lamps, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but you have forsaken him.

Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with you to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on you, and in your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.

Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father: behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD your God, therefore has the army of the king of Syria escaped out of your hand.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. In this you have done foolishly: therefore from now on you shall have wars.

Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.

Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have taken away the idol poles out of the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.

And they dwelt in it, and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name, saying,

Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit.

O our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon you.

Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has broken your works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says the LORD God of David your father, Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

But have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot, like the harlotries of the house of Ahab, and also have slain your brothers of your father's house, who were better than yourself:

And you shall have great sickness by disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out because of the sickness day by day.

And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why have you not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?

And the spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus says God, Why transgress you the commandments of the LORD, that you cannot prosper? because you have forsaken the LORD, he has also forsaken you.

And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give you much more than this.

Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, who said unto him, Why have you sought after the gods of the people, who could not deliver their own people out of your hand?

And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Are you made the king's counselor? stop; why should you be killed? Then the prophet stopped, and said, I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not hearkened unto my counsel.

You say, Lo, you have smitten the Edomites; and your heart lifts you up to boast: abide now at home; why should you meddle to your hurt, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?

And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It belongs not unto you, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from the LORD God.

But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage that reaches up unto heaven.

Now hear me therefore, and return the captives, whom you have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

And said unto them, You shall not bring in the captives here: for since we have offended against the LORD already, you intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.

For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.

Also they have shut up the doors of the vestibule, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.

For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all its utensils, and the showbread table, with all its utensils.

Moreover all the utensils, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.

Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now you have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have plenty left: for the LORD has blessed his people; and that which is left is this great abundance.

Know you not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands in any way able to deliver their lands out of my hand?

He wrote also letters to revile the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of my hand.

And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:

Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; if only they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.

And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight; and other of the Levites, all that were skillful with instruments of music.

And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.