David’s Charge to Israel

1 ⁱDavid assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the ^jofficials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the ^kcommanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the ^lstewards of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the ^mmighty men and all the seasoned warriors. 2 Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. ⁿI had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the ^ofootstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. 3 But God said to me, ^p‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ 4 Yet the Lord God of Israel ^qchose me from all my father’s house to be king over Israel ^rforever. ^sFor he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father’s ^thouse, and among my father’s sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. 5 And of ^uall my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he ^vhas chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 He said to me, ‘It is ^wSolomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom ^rforever ^xif he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’ 8 Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing 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.

David’s Charge to Solomon

9 “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a ^ywhole heart and with a willing mind, ^zfor the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. ^aIf you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 10 Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; ^bbe strong and do it.”

11 Then David gave Solomon his son the ^cplan of the ^dvestibule of the temple,¹ and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the ^emercy seat; 12 and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the Lord, all the surrounding chambers, ^fthe treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for dedicated gifts; 13 for the ^gdivisions of the priests and of the ^hLevites, and all the work of the service in the house of the Lord; for all the vessels for the service in the house of the Lord, 14 the weight of gold for all golden vessels for each service, the weight of silver vessels for each service, 15 the weight of the golden ⁱlampstands and their lamps, the weight of gold for each lampstand and its lamps, the weight of silver for a lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand in the service, 16 the weight of gold for each table for the showbread, the silver for the silver tables, 17 and pure gold for the forks, the basins and the cups; for the golden bowls and the weight of each; for the silver bowls and the weight of each; 18 for the ^jaltar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the ^kcherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 19 “All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the Lord, ^lall the work to be done according to the plan.”

20 Then David said to Solomon his son, ^m“Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. 21 And behold the ⁿdivisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work will be ^oevery willing man who has skill for any kind of service; also the officers and all the people will be wholly at your command.”

Offerings for the Temple

1 And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is ^pyoung and inexperienced, and the work is great, for ^qthe palace will not be for man but for the Lord God. 2 So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, 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, besides great quantities of ^ronyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. 3 Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: 4 ^s3,000 talents² of gold, of the gold of ^tOphir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house,³ 5 and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself⁴ today to the Lord?”

6 Then ^uthe leaders of fathers’ houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and ^vthe officers over the king’s work. 7 They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 ^wdarics⁵ of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron. 8 And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in the care of ^xJehiel the Gershonite. 9 Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a ^ywhole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.

David Prays in the Assembly

10 Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: ^z“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 ^aYours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 ^bBoth riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. ^cIn your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

14 “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. 15 ^dFor we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are ^elike a shadow, and there is no abiding.⁶ 16 O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. 17 I know, my God, ^fthat you test the heart and ^ghave pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. 18 O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 19 ^hGrant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may ⁱbuild the palace ^jfor which I have made provision.”

20 Then David said to all the assembly, ^k“Bless the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, ^land bowed their heads and paid homage to the Lord and to the king. 21 And they offered sacrifices to the Lord, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the Lord, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their ^mdrink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 And they ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness.

Solomon Anointed King

And they made Solomon the son of David king ⁿthe second time, and they ^oanointed him as prince for the Lord, and ^pZadok as priest.

23 ^qThen Solomon sat on the ^rthrone of the Lord as king in place of David his father. And he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon. 25 And the Lord made Solomon very ^sgreat in the sight of all Israel and ^tbestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

The Death of David

26 Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 The ^utime that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 28 Then he died ^vat a good age, ^wfull of days, riches, and honor. And Solomon his son reigned in his place. 29 Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles ^xof Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of ^yNathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of ^zGad the seer, 30 with accounts of all his rule and his might and of the circumstances ^athat came upon him and upon Israel and upon all the kingdoms of the countries.

You Will Not Abandon My Soul

A ^hMiktam¹ of David.

Teaching About Divorce

1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from ⁿGalilee and ^oentered ^pthe region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And ^qlarge crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 And Pharisees came up to him and ^rtested him by asking, ^s“Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, ^t“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ^u‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^vthe two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. ^wWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, ^x“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your ^yhardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 ^zAnd I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”¹

10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, ^a“Not everyone can receive this saying, but only ^bthose to ^cwhom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs ^dfor the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Let the Children Come to Me

13 ^eThen children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples ^frebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, ^g“Let the little children ^hcome to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.

The Rich Young Man

16 ⁱAnd behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to ^jhave ^keternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. ^lIf you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, ^m“You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, ⁿYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, ^o“All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be ^pperfect, go, ^qsell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^rtreasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 ^sWhen the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, ^tonly with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 ^uAgain I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter ^vthe kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus ^wlooked at them and said, ^x“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, ^ywe have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,^{2 z}when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me ^awill also sit on twelve thrones, ^bjudging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 ^cAnd everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold³ and will ^dinherit eternal life. 30 But ^emany who are ^ffirst will be last, and the last first.