Knox Bible

1

This, too, David said to all who were assembled there: The Lord’s choice has fallen on my son Solomon, and no other, a prince still young and untried. Heavy the task, to house God, not man.

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Whatever lies in me I have done, to make ready the material for the temple of my God; gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood where they were needed, onyx and jet and precious stones of all colours, abundance, too, of the best marble.

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Such love had I to the house of my God; and now, over and above the preparations I have made for this holy work, I offer gold and silver out of my own purse for the temple’s needs;

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three thousand talents of Ophir gold and seven thousand talents of tried silver. All this, for gilding the temple walls,

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and to put more gold and silver into the craftsmen’s hands.

Let every man that has the will to offer make to the Lord here and now, with open hand, his gift.

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So chief and commissioner, commander and captain and overseer, promised to do their part;

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and their gift to God’s house was five thousand talents of gold, and ten thousand gold pieces, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand of bronze, and a hundred thousand of iron;

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others, who had precious stones in their possession, gave these in, through Jaziel the Gersonite, to the temple treasury.

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Great was the rejoicing of the people that day, as promise after promise was made, so generously they offered what they had to the Lord; and greatly might David himself rejoice.

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Then, before all the people, he blessed the Lord’s name thus: Blessed art thou, O Lord, the God of our father Israel, from the beginning to the end of time.

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Thine, Lord, the magnificence, thine the power, splendour and glory and majesty are thine; to thee all that is in heaven, all that is on earth, belongs, to thee the kingdom, of all princes thou art overlord.

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Riches and honour come from thee; all things obey thy will; from thee power comes and dominion; only thy hand exalts, only thy hand makes strong.

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To thee, then, our God, we pay homage this day, to thy glorious name bring renown.

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That I, that this people of mine, should have the means to make thee such promises! All things belong to thee; all that thou hast from us is thy own gift;

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as thou seest us, we are exiles and wanderers, no less than our fathers were; our days on earth pass like a shadow, and there is no abiding here.

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O Lord our God, all this store we have in readiness, for the building of a shrine to thy name, comes from thy hands; all things are thine.

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My God, thou readest our hearts, I know it well, and it is the honest heart thou lovest. With honesty of intent I have made all these offerings gladly, and gladly have I seen all that are here assembled make their gifts to thee.

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O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this will of theirs for ever unchangeable; still be that mind theirs, a mind set on thy worship.

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And oh, to my son Solomon give integrity of heart; command and decree and observance of thine may he hold ever in honour, and ever perform; be it his to build the temple for which I have made provision.

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Then David would have the whole assembly bless the Lord’s name, and bless it they did, the name of the Lord God of their fathers; and so made reverence, to God first and then to the king.

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Victims, too, they slaughtered in sacrifice to the Lord; on the day following they offered in burnt-sacrifice a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with due libations made, and with a sacrificial banquet in which the whole of Israel shared to their heart’s content.

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So ate they and drank that day, keeping high festival in the Lord’s presence, and anointed Solomon to be their prince, Sadoc to be their priest, in the Lord’s service.

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Thus Solomon took his seat, instead of his father David, upon the throne the Lord had appointed; winning favour and obedience from all;

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not one of the chiefs and rulers, not one of the royal princes themselves, but did homage and accepted Solomon as king.

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High pre-eminence the Lord gave him over the whole people, and such royal majesty as never yet king had in Israel.

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So reigned David the son of Jesse over the whole of Israel,

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for forty years’ space, seven at Hebron and thirty-three at Jerusalem.

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And he died grown old in comfort, neither length of days nor riches nor honours wanting to him, and with his son Solomon to reign as his heir.

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All his deeds, first and last, stand recorded by the seer Samuel, and the prophet Nathan, and Gad the man of visions;

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the history of his reign, and the greatness of his reign, and the times that passed during his reign, in Israel and in all the kingdoms of the world.