David Prepares for Temple Building

1Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

2So David gave orders to gather the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to hew out stones to build the house of God. 3David prepared large quantities of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gates and for the clamps, and more bronze than could be weighed; 4and timbers of cedar logs beyond number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought large quantities of cedar timber to David. 5David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord shall be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all lands. Therefore now I will make preparation for it.” So David made ample preparations before his death.

Solomon Charged with the Task

6Then he called for his son Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. 7David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. 8But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me. 9Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ 11Now, my son, the Lord be with you that you may be successful, and build the house of the Lord your God just as He has spoken concerning you. 12Only the Lord give you discretion and understanding, and give you charge over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 13Then you will prosper, if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed. 14Now behold, with great pains I have prepared for the house of the Lord 100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weight, for they are in great quantity; also timber and stone I have prepared, and you may add to them. 15Moreover, there are many workmen with you, stonecutters and masons of stone and carpenters, and all men who are skillful in every kind of work. 16Of the gold, the silver and the bronze and the iron there is no limit. Arise and work, and may the Lord be with you.”

17David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon, saying, 18“Is not the Lord your God with you? And has He not given you rest on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and before His people. 19Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; arise, therefore, and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the Lord.”

Solomon Reigns

1Now when David reached old age, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.

Offices of the Levites

3The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward, and their number by census of men was 38,000. 4Of these, 24,000 were to oversee the work of the house of the Lord; and 6,000 were officers and judges, 5and 4,000 were gatekeepers, and 4,000 were praising the Lord with the instruments which David made for giving praise. 6David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

Gershonites

7Of the Gershonites were Ladan and Shimei. 8The sons of Ladan were Jehiel the first and Zetham and Joel, three. 9The sons of Shimei were Shelomoth and Haziel and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan. 10The sons of Shimei were Jahath, Zina, Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11Jahath was the first and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became a father’s household, one class.

Kohathites

12The sons of Kohath were four: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 13The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was set apart to sanctify him as most holy, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister to Him and to bless in His name forever. 14But as for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi. 15The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. 16The son of Gershom was Shebuel the chief. 17The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18The son of Izhar was Shelomith the chief. 19The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth. 20The sons of Uzziel were Micah the first and Isshiah the second.

Merarites

21The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22Eleazar died and had no sons, but daughters only, so their brothers, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. 23The sons of Mushi were three: Mahli, Eder and Jeremoth.

Duties Revised

24These were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ households, even the heads of the fathers’ households of those of them who were counted, in the number of names by their census, doing the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and upward. 25For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26Also, the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its utensils for its service.” 27For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and upward. 28For their office is to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts and in the chambers and in the purifying of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God, 29and with the showbread, and the fine flour for a grain offering, and unleavened wafers, or what is baked in the pan or what is well-mixed, and all measures of volume and size. 30They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the Lord, and likewise at evening, 31and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord, on the sabbaths, the new moons and the fixed festivals in the number set by the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord. 32Thus they are to keep charge of the tent of meeting, and charge of the holy place, and charge of the sons of Aaron their relatives, for the service of the house of the Lord.

9What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one;

11There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

12All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

There is none who does good,

There is not even one.”

13“Their throat is an open grave,

With their tongues they keep deceiving,”

“The poison of asps is under their lips”;

14“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;

15“Their feet are swift to shed blood,

16Destruction and misery are in their paths,

17And the path of peace they have not known.”

18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Justification by Faith

21But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

27Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

31Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

PSALM 12

God, a Helper against the Treacherous.

For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.

1Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be,

For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

2They speak falsehood to one another;

With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.

3May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

The tongue that speaks great things;

4Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;

Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”

5“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,

Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”

6The words of the Lord are pure words;

As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.

7You, O Lord, will keep them;

You will preserve him from this generation forever.

8The wicked strut about on every side

When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

13A foolish son is destruction to his father,

And the contentions of a wife are a constant dripping.

14House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers,

But a prudent wife is from the Lord.