July 24th

Now with all my power I have prepared for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance.

Moreover, in my pleasure in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already prepared for the holy house,

namely, 3,000 talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings;

of gold for the things of gold and of silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work done by the hand of craftsmen. Who then would offer willingly to ordain himself this day to Yahweh?”

Then the commanders of the fathers’ households, and the commanders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the commanders of the king’s work, offered willingly;

and for the service for the house of God they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, and 10,000 talents of silver, and 18,000 talents of brass, and 100,000 talents of iron.

And whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of Yahweh, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.

Then the people were glad because they had offered so willingly, for they made their freewill offering to Yahweh with a whole heart, and King David also was exceedingly glad.

So David blessed Yahweh in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, O Yahweh, the God of Israel our father, from everlasting to everlasting.

Yours, O Yahweh, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the kingdom, O Yahweh, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.

Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.

So now, our God, we are thanking You and praising Your glorious name.

“But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as willingly as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.

For we are sojourners before You, and foreign residents, like all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope.

O Yahweh our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours.

And I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness. I, in the uprightness of my heart, have willingly offered all these things. So now with gladness I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You.

O Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and prepare their heart to You;

and give to my son Solomon a whole heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes, and to do them all, and to build the temple, for which I have made preparation.”

Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless Yahweh your God.” And all the assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and bowed low and prostrated themselves to Yahweh and to the king.

And on the next day they made sacrifices to Yahweh and offered burnt offerings to Yahweh, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.

So they ate and drank that day before Yahweh with great gladness.

And they made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and they anointed him as ruler for Yahweh and Zadok as priest.

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

And all the officials, the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David pledged allegiance to King Solomon.

And Yahweh highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel, and granted to him royal majesty which had not been on any king before him in Israel.

Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.

And the time which he reigned over Israel was forty years; in Hebron he reigned seven years and in Jerusalem thirty-three years.

Then he died in a good old age, full of days, riches and glory; and his son Solomon became king in his place.

Now the acts of King David, from first to last, behold, they are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the chronicles of Gad the seer,

with all his reign, his might, and the circumstances which came on him, on Israel, and on all the kingdoms of the lands.

Now Solomon the son of David strengthened himself over his kingdom, and Yahweh his God was with him and highly exalted him.

And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households.

Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place which was at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the servant of Yahweh had made in the wilderness.

However, David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.

Now the bronze altar, which Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of Yahweh, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out.

And Solomon went up there before Yahweh to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it.

In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I should give to you.”

Then Solomon said to God, “You have shown great lovingkindness to my father David, and have made me king in his place.

Now, O Yahweh God, let Your promise to my father David endure, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can do justice for this great people of Yours?”

And God said to Solomon, “Because you had this in your heart, and did not ask for riches, wealth, or glory, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may do justice for My people over whom I have made you king,

wisdom and knowledge have been given to you. And I will give you riches and wealth and glory, such as none of the kings who were before you had nor those who will come after you.”

So Solomon went from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.

And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. And he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

The king also made silver and gold as plentiful as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the Shephelah.

Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s merchants procured them from Kue for a price.

And they imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150; and by the same means they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.

And when they had come to him, he said to them,

“You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews;

how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,

solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that chains and afflictions await me.

But I do not make my life of any account nor dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.

Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all.

For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

Therefore be watchful, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.

And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified.

I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes.

You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to those who were with me.

In everything I showed you that by laboring in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

And they began to weep aloud and falling on Paul’s neck, they were kissing him,

being in agony especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.