Book Order Plan

¹In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, Joab led the Israelite army in successful attacks against the land of the Ammonites. In the process he laid siege to the city of Rabbah, attacking and destroying it. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

²Then David went to Rabbah and removed the crown from the king’s head, and it was placed on his own head. The crown was made of gold and set with gems, and he found that it weighed seventy-five pounds. David took a vast amount of plunder from the city.

³He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes. That is how David dealt with the people of all the Ammonite towns. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

⁴After this, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, a descendant of the giants, and so the Philistines were subdued.

⁵During another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath of Gath. The handle of Lahmi’s spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam!

⁶In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, they encountered a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also a descendant of the giants.

⁷But when he defied and taunted Israel, he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimea.

⁸These Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but David and his warriors killed them.

¹Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.

²So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Take a census of all the people of Israel — from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north — and bring me a report so I may know how many there are.”

³But Joab replied, “May the LORD increase the number of his people a hundred times over! But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this? Are they not all your servants? Why must you cause Israel to sin?”

⁴But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab traveled throughout all Israel to count the people. Then he returned to Jerusalem

⁵and reported the number of people to David. There were 1,100,000 warriors in all Israel who could handle a sword, and 470,000 in Judah.

⁶But Joab did not include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the census because he was so distressed at what the king had made him do.

⁷God was very displeased with the census, and he punished Israel for it.

⁸Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt for doing this foolish thing.”

⁹Then the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer. This was the message:

¹⁰“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’”

¹¹So Gad came to David and said, “These are the choices the LORD has given you.

¹²You may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the LORD brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. Decide what answer I should give the LORD who sent me.”

¹³“I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”

¹⁴So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and 70,000 people died as a result.

¹⁵And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But just as the angel was preparing to destroy it, the LORD relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁶David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem. So David and the leaders of Israel put on burlap to show their deep distress and fell face down on the ground.

¹⁷And David said to God, “I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep — what have they done? O LORD my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people.”

¹⁸Then the angel of the LORD told Gad to instruct David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁹So David went up to do what the LORD had commanded him through Gad.

²⁰Araunah, who was busy threshing wheat at the time, turned and saw the angel there. His four sons, who were with him, ran away and hid.

²¹When Araunah saw David approaching, he left his threshing floor and bowed before David with his face to the ground.

²²David said to Araunah, “Let me buy this threshing floor from you at its full price. Then I will build an altar to the LORD there, so that he will stop the plague.”

²³“Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, and the threshing boards for wood to build a fire on the altar, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all to you.”

²⁴But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the LORD. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!”

²⁵So David gave Araunah 600 pieces of gold in payment for the threshing floor.

²⁶David built an altar there to the LORD and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And when David prayed, the LORD answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn up the offering on the altar.

²⁷Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put the sword back into its sheath.

²⁸When David saw that the LORD had answered his prayer, he offered sacrifices there at Araunah’s threshing floor.

²⁹At that time the Tabernacle of the LORD and the altar of burnt offering that Moses had made in the wilderness were located at the place of worship in Gibeon.

³⁰But David was not able to go there to inquire of God, because he was terrified by the drawn sword of the angel of the LORD.

¹Then David said, “This will be the location for the Temple of the LORD God and the place of the altar for Israel’s burnt offerings!”

²So David gave orders to call together the foreigners living in Israel, and he assigned them the task of preparing finished stone for building the Temple of God.

³David provided large amounts of iron for the nails that would be needed for the doors in the gates and for the clamps, and he gave more bronze than could be weighed.

⁴He also provided innumerable cedar logs, for the men of Tyre and Sidon had brought vast amounts of cedar to David.

⁵David said, “My son Solomon is still young and inexperienced. And since the Temple to be built for the LORD must be a magnificent structure, famous and glorious throughout the world, I will begin making preparations for it now.” So David collected vast amounts of building materials before his death.

⁶Then David sent for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a Temple for the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁷“My son, I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD my God,” David told him.

⁸“But the LORD said to me, ‘You have killed many men in the battles you have fought. And since you have shed so much blood in my sight, you will not be the one to build a Temple to honor my name.

⁹But you will have a son who will be a man of peace. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.

¹⁰He is the one who will build a Temple to honor my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will secure the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

¹¹“Now, my son, may the LORD be with you and give you success as you follow his directions in building the Temple of the LORD your God.

¹²And may the LORD give you wisdom and understanding, that you may obey the Law of the LORD your God as you rule over Israel.

¹³For you will be successful if you carefully obey the decrees and regulations that the LORD gave to Israel through Moses. Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or lose heart!

¹⁴“I have worked hard to provide materials for building the Temple of the LORD — nearly 4,000 tons of gold, 40,000 tons of silver, and so much iron and bronze that it cannot be weighed. I have also gathered timber and stone for the walls, though you may need to add more.

¹⁵You have a large number of skilled stonemasons and carpenters and craftsmen of every kind.

¹⁶You have expert goldsmiths and silversmiths and workers of bronze and iron. Now begin the work, and may the LORD be with you!”

¹⁷Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to assist Solomon in this project.

¹⁸“The LORD your God is with you,” he declared. “He has given you peace with the surrounding nations. He has handed them over to me, and they are now subject to the LORD and his people.

¹⁹Now seek the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. Build the sanctuary of the LORD God so that you can bring the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant and the holy vessels of God into the Temple built to honor the LORD’s name.”

¹When David was an old man, he appointed his son Solomon to be king over Israel.

²David summoned all the leaders of Israel, together with the priests and Levites.

³All the Levites who were thirty years old or older were counted, and the total came to 38,000.

⁴Then David said, “From all the Levites, 24,000 will supervise the work at the Temple of the LORD. Another 6,000 will serve as officials and judges.

⁵Another 4,000 will work as gatekeepers, and 4,000 will praise the LORD with the musical instruments I have made.”

⁶Then David divided the Levites into divisions named after the clans descended from the three sons of Levi — Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷The Gershonite family units were defined by their lines of descent from Libni and Shimei, the sons of Gershon.

⁸Three of the descendants of Libni were Jehiel (the family leader), Zetham, and Joel.

⁹These were the leaders of the family of Libni. Three of the descendants of Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran.

¹⁰Four other descendants of Shimei were Jahath, Ziza, Jeush, and Beriah.

¹¹Jahath was the family leader, and Ziza was next. Jeush and Beriah were counted as a single family because neither had many sons.

¹²Four of the descendants of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

¹³The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart to dedicate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices in the LORD’s presence, to serve the LORD, and to pronounce blessings in his name forever.

¹⁴As for Moses, the man of God, his sons were included with the tribe of Levi.

¹⁵The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.

¹⁶The descendants of Gershom included Shebuel, the family leader.

¹⁷Eliezer had only one son, Rehabiah, the family leader. Rehabiah had numerous descendants.

¹⁸The descendants of Izhar included Shelomith, the family leader.

¹⁹The descendants of Hebron included Jeriah (the family leader), Amariah (the second), Jahaziel (the third), and Jekameam (the fourth).

²⁰The descendants of Uzziel included Micah (the family leader) and Isshiah (the second).

²¹The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.

²²Eleazar died with no sons, only daughters. His daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish.

²³Three of the descendants of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.

²⁴These were the descendants of Levi by clans, the leaders of their family groups, registered carefully by name. Each had to be twenty years old or older to qualify for service in the house of the LORD.

²⁵For David said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given us peace, and he will always live in Jerusalem.

²⁶Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the Tabernacle and its furnishings from place to place.”

²⁷In accordance with David’s final instructions, all the Levites twenty years old or older were registered for service.

²⁸The work of the Levites was to assist the priests, the descendants of Aaron, as they served at the house of the LORD. They also took care of the courtyards and side rooms, helped perform the ceremonies of purification, and served in many other ways in the house of God.

²⁹They were in charge of the sacred bread that was set out on the table, the choice flour for the grain offerings, the wafers made without yeast, the cakes cooked in olive oil, and the other mixed breads. They were also responsible to check all the weights and measures.

³⁰And each morning and evening they stood before the LORD to sing songs of thanks and praise to him.

³¹They assisted with the burnt offerings that were presented to the LORD on Sabbath days, at new moon celebrations, and at all the appointed festivals. The required number of Levites served in the LORD’s presence at all times, following all the procedures they had been given.

³²And so, under the supervision of the priests, the Levites watched over the Tabernacle and the Temple and faithfully carried out their duties of service at the house of the LORD.