And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of Jehovah in the high place that was at Gibeon,

to offer burnt offerings regularly, morning and evening, to the Lord on the altar of burnt offerings and to do everything that was written in the law of the Lord, which He had commanded Israel to keep.

and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to Jehovah, because his loving-kindness endureth for ever;

and with them, with Heman and Jeduthun, trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud; and the musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were at the gate.

And it came to pass as David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Behold, I dwell in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah under curtains.

So Nathan told David, “Do all that is on your heart, for God is with you.”

But that night the word of God came to Nathan:

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

In all that I went about in all Israel, spake I the word with one of the judges of Israel that I commanded to feed my people, saying, Wherefore built ye not to me a house of cedars

"Now therefore, you shall tell my servant David, 'Thus says Yahweh of Armies, "I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.

I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a name for you like that of the greatest in the land.

I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they formerly have

ever since the day I ordered judges to be over My people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.

“‘Furthermore, I declare to you that the Lord Himself will build a house for you.

And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

I will be his father, and he shall be my son; and I will not take away my mercy from him, as I took it from him that was before thee;

Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.

Then King David went in, sat in the Lord’s presence, and said,

Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far?

and hast made this seem little in thine eyes, O God, in that thou hast spoken concerning the house of thy servant, for a great while to come? Thus wilt thou provide for me, according to the rank of manhood, and hast exalted me, O Yahweh God!

What, yet further, can David say unto thee, thus to honour thy servant, - seeing that, thou thyself, knowest, thine own servant?

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

And who is like thy people Israel, the one nation in the earth that God went to redeem to be a people to himself, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, which thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?

Now, Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house be confirmed forever, and do as You have promised.

Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee.

Since You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house, Your servant has found courage to pray in Your presence.

And now, Jehovah, thou art that God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant;

So now, You have been pleased to bless Your servant’s house that it may continue before You forever. For You, Lord, have blessed it, and it is blessed forever.

And it happened [that] after David struck the Philistines and subdued them, he captured Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.

And David captured from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, - and David destroyed all the chariots, saving that he reserved from them a hundred chariots.

And David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus, and so it was that the Syrians became, David's, servants, bearers of a present, - so Yahweh gave victory to David, whithersoever he went.

And David took small round shields of gold that were upon the servants of Hadadezer and brought them [to] Jerusalem.

When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah,

and he sendeth Hadoram his son unto king David, to ask of him of peace, and to bless him (because that he hath fought against Hadarezer, and smiteth him, for a man of wars with Tou had Hadarezer been,) and all kinds of vessels, of gold, and silver, and brass;

King David dedicated these also to Yahweh, along with the silver and gold that he had taken from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and Amalek.

and put Soldiers in Edom, and all Edom became David's servants: for the LORD kept David in all that he took in hand.

And it happened [that] after this Nahash the king of the {Ammonites} died, and his son reigned in his place.

But the princes of the {Ammonites} said to Hanun, "{Do you think} because David sent comforters to you [that] David honors your father? Is it not for the purpose of exploring [so as] to overthrow and spy out the land that his servants have come to you?"

So Hanun seized David's servants and shaved their beards off. He cut off the lower part of their robes so that their buttocks were exposed and then sent them away.

And some go, and declare to David concerning the men, and he sendeth to meet them -- for the men have been greatly ashamed -- and the king saith, 'Dwell in Jericho till that your beard is grown, then ye have returned.'

And when the {Ammonites} saw that they made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the {Ammonites} sent one thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves horses and chariots from Aram-Naharaim, Aram-Maacah, and Zobah.

And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entrance of the city; and the kings that had come were by themselves on the field.

When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some men out of all the elite troops of Israel and lined up in battle formation to engage the Arameans.

And the rest of the people he delivered unto Abishai his brother, that they should put themselves in array against the children of Ammon,

And he saith, 'If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation; and if the sons of Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have saved thee;

Be courageous, and let us be strong for our people, and for the cities of our God. May Yahweh do that which seems good to him."

And Joab and the people that were with him drew near in front of the Syrians to the battle; and they fled before him.

When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they likewise fled before Joab’s brother Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab went to Jerusalem.

When the Arameans realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers to summon the Arameans who were across the Euphrates. They were led by Shophach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army.

When Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. After this, the Arameans were never willing to help the Ammonites again.

And it happened [that] {in the spring time of year}, the time [when] kings go out [to battle], Joab led the troops of the army and destroyed the land of the {Ammonites}. And he came and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. And Joab struck Rabbah and destroyed it.

David confiscated the crown of their king from his head, and found that its weight was a talent in gold. A precious stone had been set in it, and it was placed on David's head. He also confiscated a great amount of war booty that had been plundered from the city,

And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with the saw, and with harrows of iron, and with saws. And so David did to all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

After this, a war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, a descendant of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued.

So David said to Joab and to the commanders of the nation, "Go, count Israel from Beersheba to Dan and bring a report to me that I might know their number."

And Joab answered, the LORD make his people a hundred times more numerous than they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

But the king's word was stronger than Joab's. So Joab went out and went through all Israel and came to Jerusalem.

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.

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." '"

Choose thee, either three years of famine, or three months to be destroyed before thine adversaries while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee, or three days the sword of Jehovah and the pestilence in the land, and the angel of Jehovah destroying through all the borders of Israel. And now consider what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

And the LORD sent pestilence upon all Israel, so that there were overthrown of Israel seventy thousand men.

And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was destroying, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough; withdraw now thine hand. And the angel of Jehovah stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

So the angel of the ORD remained standing near the threshing floor that belonged to Ornan the Jebusite. David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.

And David said to God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? It is I that have sinned and done evil; but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, Jehovah my God, be on me and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be smitten.

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

So David went up at the word of Gad that he had spoken in the name of Yahweh.

And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons that were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.

Then David said to Ornan, “Give me this threshing-floor plot so that I may build an altar to the Lord on it. Give it to me for the full price, so the plague on the people may be stopped.”

And Ornan said to David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his sight: see, I give the oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing-sledges for wood, and the wheat for the oblation; I give it all.

King David answered Ornan, “No, I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the Lord what belongs to you or offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

At that time, David offered sacrifices there when he saw that the Lord answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

The tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the desert, and the altar of burnt offering were at the high place in Gibeon,

So David gave orders to gather the foreigners that were in the land of Israel, and he appointed stonecutters to cut finished stones for building God’s house.

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 more cedar logs than could be counted. (The Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large amount of cedar logs to David.)

David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly great and famous and glorious in all the lands. Therefore, I must make provision for it.” So David made lavish preparations for it before his death.

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.

"You have shed a lot of blood and fought great battles. You won't be building a house for my name, since you have shed so much blood on the earth in my sight. But look! A son born to you will live comfortably, because I will give him rest from all his enemies that surround him on every side, since his name will be "Solomon" - I will give peace and quiet for Israel during his lifetime.

Now, my son, Yahweh will be with you, that you may succeed and build the house of Yahweh your God as he has spoken concerning you.

Above all, may the Lord give you insight and understanding when He puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.

then thou dost prosper, if thou dost observe to do the statutes and the judgments that Jehovah charged Moses with concerning Israel; be strong and courageous; do not fear, nor be cast down.

“Notice I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the Lord—3,775 tons of gold, 37,750 tons of silver, and bronze and iron that can’t be weighed because there is so much of it. I have also provided timber and stone, but you will need to add more to them.

Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all men that are skilful in every manner of work:

In gold and silver and brass and iron more than may be numbered. Up! then, and to work; and may the Lord be with you.

Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Get started building the Lord God’s sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built for the name of Yahweh.”

4,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments that I have made for worship.”

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was separated, that he should be hallowed as most holy, he and his sons for ever, to offer before Jehovah, to do service to him, and to bless in his name for ever.

These were the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers; even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their polls, that did the work for the service of the house of the LORD, from the age of twenty years and upward.

For David said, The LORD God of Israel hath given rest to his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever;

and also to the Levites, so that they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any of its vessels for its service.

"To wait at the hands of the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the LORD, and to have the oversight of the courts and of the store houses, and of the purifying of all holy things, and of the work of the things that served for the house of God,

and for the loaves to be set in rows, and for the fine flour for the oblation, and for the unleavened cakes, and for what is baked in the pan, and for that which is saturated with oil, and for all measure of capacity and size;

And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the LORD on the sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to that required of them, continually before the LORD:

and that they should keep the duty of the Tent of Meeting, and the duty of the holy place, and the duty of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the service of the house of Yahweh.

Since more leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than Ithamar’s, they were divided accordingly: 16 heads of ancestral houses were from Eleazar’s descendants, and eight heads of ancestral houses were from Ithamar’s.

And they put them in order by lot, one with another that there should be rulers in the sanctuary and lords before God as well of the sons of Ithamar as of the sons of Eleazar.

Now the first name to come out was that of Jehoiarib; the second Jedaiah,

Moreover David and the captains of the host set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of them that did the work according to their service was:

And the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of Jehovah, all of them skilful, was two hundred and eighty-eight.

Asaph's first lottery was cast in favor of Joseph; the second went to Gedaliah, that is, to him, to his relatives, and his sons, for a total of twelve;

Also to Shemaiah his son were sons born, that ruled throughout the house of their father: for they were mighty men of valor.