Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, "Do not be afraid because of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you."

and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,

The sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah; which three were born to him by Bath-Shua the Canaanite woman. Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and he killed him.

They went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.

These are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after that the ark had rest.

and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, were given them, out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness with its suburbs, and Jahzah with its suburbs,

Then said Saul to his armor bearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not; for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it.

In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. The LORD your God said to you, 'You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.'"

The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, "You shall not come in here." Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the City of David.

David said, "Whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain." Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief.

David longed, and said, "Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate."

and said, "My God forbid it me, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy?" For they risked their lives to bring it. Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

Behold, he was more honorable than the thirty, but he did not attain to the three: and David set him over his guard.

Then the Spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, "We are yours, David, and on your side, you son of Jesse: peace, peace be to you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you." Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.

Of Zebulun, such as were able to go out in the army, who could set the battle in array, with all kinds of instruments of war, fifty thousand, and who could command and were not of double heart.

Of the Danites who could set the battle in array, twenty-eight thousand six hundred.

Of Asher, such as were able to go out in the army, who could set the battle in array, forty thousand.

On the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, with all kinds of instruments of war for the battle, one hundred twenty thousand.

David said to all the assembly of Israel, "If it seems good to you, and if it is of the LORD our God, let us send abroad everywhere to our brothers who are left in all the land of Israel, with whom the priests and Levites are in their cities that have suburbs, that they may gather themselves to us;

All the assembly said that they would do so; for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

David inquired of God, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand?" The LORD said to him, "Go up; for I will deliver them into your hand."

So they came up to Baal Perazim, and David struck them there; and David said, God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a breakthrough of waters. Therefore they called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

David inquired again of God; and God said to him, "You shall not go up after them. Turn away from them, and come on them over against the mulberry trees.

Then David said, "No one ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites. For the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of God, and to minister to him forever."

and said to them, "You are the heads of the ancestral houses of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, both you and your brothers, that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.

and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with stringed instruments set to Alamoth;

They brought in the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

you seed of Israel his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And all the people said, "Amen," and praised the LORD.

It happened, when David lived in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, "Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under curtains."

Nathan said to David, "Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you."

It shall happen, when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

Then David the king went in, and sat before the LORD; and he said, "Who am I, LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?

David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me." So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

But the leaders of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, "Do you think that David honors your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Haven't his servants come to you to search, to overthrow, and to spy out the land?"

Then there went certain persons, and told David how the men were served. He sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, "Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return."

Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.

He said, "If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you are to help me; but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you.

It was told David; and he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came on them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.

David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set on David's head: and he brought forth the spoil of the city, a very great amount.

And David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, "Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them."

Joab said, "May the LORD make his people a hundred times as many as they are. But, my lord the king, aren't they all my lord's servants? Why does my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?"

David said to God, "I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly."

So Gad came to David, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Take your choice:

David said to Gad, "I am in distress. Let me fall, I pray, into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are very great. Let me not fall into the hand of man."

God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was about to destroy, the LORD saw, and he relented of the disaster, and said to the destroying angel, "It is enough; now stay your hand." The angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

David said to God, "Isn't it I who commanded the people to be numbered? It is even I who have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD my God, be against me, and against my father's house; but not against your people, that they should be plagued."

Then David said to Ornan, "Give me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build thereon an altar to the LORD. You shall sell it to me for the full price, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people."

Ornan said to David, "Take it for yourself, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes. Behold, I give the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal offering. I give it all."

King David said to Ornan, "No; but I will most certainly buy it for the full price. For I will not take that which is yours for the LORD, nor offer a burnt offering without cost."

Then David said, "This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel."

David gave orders to gather together the foreigners who were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to cut worked stones to build God's house.

David said, "Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries. I will therefore make preparation for it." So David prepared abundantly before his death.

David said to Solomon his son, "As for me, it was in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God.

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 to my name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.

"Isn't the LORD your God with you? Hasn't he given you rest on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people.

Now set your heart and your soul to seek after the LORD your God. Arise therefore, and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD."

David said, "Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of the LORD; six thousand were officers and judges;

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

and to offer all burnt offerings to the LORD, on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, in number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before the LORD;

Moreover, David and the captains of the army set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with stringed instruments, and with cymbals: and the number of those who did the work according to their service was:

But David did not take the number of them from twenty years old and under, because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like the stars of the sky.

Then David the king stood up on his feet, and said, "Hear me, my brothers, and my people. As for me, it was in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God; and I had prepared for the building.

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

Of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons), he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the LORD's kingdom over Israel.

He said to me, 'Solomon, your son, shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God; that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.

Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch of the temple, and of its houses, and of its treasuries, and of the upper rooms of it, and of the inner rooms of it, and of the place of the mercy seat;

"All this," said David, "I have been made to understand in writing from the hand of the LORD, even all the works of this pattern."

David said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do it. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not fail you, nor forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.

David the king said to all the assembly, "Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

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

In addition, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, since I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, I give it to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,

Therefore David blessed the LORD before all the assembly; and David said, "You are blessed, LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.

David said to all the assembly, "Now bless the LORD your God." All the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads and prostrated themselves before the LORD and the king.

Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.

The LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, "Ask what I shall give you."

Solomon said to God, "You have shown great loving kindness to David my father, and have made me king in his place.

God said to Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of those who hate you, 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:

Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him incense of sweet spices, and for the continual show bread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.

He set seventy thousand of them to bear burdens, and eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to set the people at work.

He set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward.

He made the ten lampstands of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. He made one hundred basins of gold.

He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.

Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick cloud.

He said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has with his hands fulfilled it, saying,

But the LORD said to David my father, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart:

"The LORD has performed his word that he spoke; 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, the God of Israel.

There I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with the children of Israel."

(for Solomon had made a bronze scaffold, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and on it he stood, and kneeled down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;)

and he said, "LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven, or on earth; you who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart;

"Now therefore, LORD, the 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 on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.'

that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place where you have said that you would put your name; to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray toward this place.

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

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

Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the City of David to the house that he had built for her; for he said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places where the ark of the LORD has come are holy."