1 Chronicles 20:1--23:21

20:1 In the spring, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, Joab led the army into battle and devastated the land of the Ammonites. He went and besieged Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down. 20:2 David took the crown from the head of their king and wore it (its weight was a talent of gold and it was set with precious stones). He took a large amount of plunder from the city. 20:3 He removed the city’s residents and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. This was his policy with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

Battles with the Philistines

20:4 Later there was a battle with the Philistines in Gezer. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaim, and the Philistines were subdued.

20:5 There was another battle with the Philistines in which Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear had a shaft as big as the crossbeam of a weaver’s loom.

20:6 In a battle in Gath there was a large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot – twenty-four in all! He too was a descendant of Rapha. 20:7 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

20:8 These were the descendants of Rapha who lived in Gath; they were killed by the hand of David and his soldiers.

The Lord Sends a Plague against Israel

21:1 An adversary opposed Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had. 21:2 David told Joab and the leaders of the army, “Go, count the number of warriors from Beer Sheba to Dan. Then bring back a report to me so I may know how many we have.” 21:3 Joab replied, “May the Lord make his army a hundred times larger! My master, O king, do not all of them serve my master? Why does my master want to do this? Why bring judgment on Israel?”

21:4 But the king’s edict stood, despite Joab’s objections. So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel before returning to Jerusalem. 21:5 Joab reported to David the number of warriors. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 sword-wielding soldiers; Judah alone had 470,000 sword-wielding soldiers. 21:6 Now Joab did not number Levi and Benjamin, for the king’s edict disgusted him. 21:7 God was also offended by it, so he attacked Israel.

21:8 David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 21:9 The Lord told Gad, David’s prophet, 21:10 “Go, tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I am offering you three forms of judgment from which to choose. Pick one of them.”’” 21:11 Gad went to David and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Pick one of these: 21:12 three years of famine, or three months being chased by your enemies and struck down by their swords, or three days being struck down by the Lord, during which a plague will invade the land and the Lord’s messenger will destroy throughout Israel’s territory.’ Now, decide what I should tell the one who sent me.” 21:13 David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer to be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is very great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” 21:14 So the Lord sent a plague through Israel, and 70,000 Israelite men died.

21:15 God sent an angel to ravage Jerusalem. As he was doing so, the Lord watched and relented from his judgment. He told the angel who was destroying, “That’s enough! Stop now!”

Now the Lord’s angel was standing near the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 21:16 David looked up and saw the Lord’s messenger standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. 21:17 David said to God, “Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep – what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!”

21:18 So the Lord’s messenger told Gad to instruct David to go up and build an altar for the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 21:19 So David went up as Gad instructed him to do in the name of the Lord. 21:20 While Ornan was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the messenger, and he and his four sons hid themselves. 21:21 When David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David; he came out from the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face to the ground. 21:22 David said to Ornan, “Sell me the threshing floor so I can build on it an altar for the Lord – I’ll pay top price – so that the plague may be removed from the people.” 21:23 Ornan told David, “You can have it! My master, the king, may do what he wants. Look, I am giving you the oxen for burnt sacrifices, the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for an offering. I give it all to you.” 21:24 King David replied to Ornan, “No, I insist on buying it for top price. I will not offer to the Lord what belongs to you or offer a burnt sacrifice that cost me nothing. 21:25 So David bought the place from Ornan for 600 pieces of gold. 21:26 David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings. He called out to the Lord, and the Lord responded by sending fire from the sky and consuming the burnt sacrifice on the altar. 21:27 The Lord ordered the messenger to put his sword back into its sheath.

21:28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord responded to him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 21:29 Now the Lord’s tabernacle (which Moses had made in the wilderness) and the altar for burnt sacrifices were at that time at the worship center in Gibeon. 21:30 But David could not go before it to seek God’s will, for he was afraid of the sword of the Lord’s messenger. 22:1 David then said, “This is the place where the temple of the Lord God will be, along with the altar for burnt sacrifices for Israel.”

David Orders a Temple to Be Built

22:2 David ordered the resident foreigners in the land of Israel to be called together. He appointed some of them to be stonecutters to chisel stones for the building of God’s temple. 22:3 David supplied a large amount of iron for the nails of the doors of the gates and for braces, more bronze than could be weighed, 22:4 and more cedar logs than could be counted. (The Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large amount of cedar logs to David.)

22:5 David said, “My son Solomon is just an inexperienced young man, and the temple to be built for the Lord must be especially magnificent so it will become famous and be considered splendid by all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for its construction.” So David made extensive preparations before he died.

22:6 He summoned his son Solomon and charged him to build a temple for the Lord God of Israel. 22:7 David said to Solomon: “My son, I really wanted to build a temple to honor the Lord my God. 22:8 But the Lord said to me: ‘You have spilled a great deal of blood and fought many battles. You must not build a temple to honor me, for you have spilled a great deal of blood on the ground before me. 22:9 Look, you will have a son, who will be a peaceful man. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. Indeed, Solomon will be his name; I will give Israel peace and quiet during his reign. 22:10 He will build a temple to honor me; he will become my son, and I will become his father. I will grant to his dynasty permanent rule over Israel.’

22:11 “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you! May you succeed and build a temple for the Lord your God, just as he announced you would. 22:12 Only may the Lord give you insight and understanding when he places you in charge of Israel, so you may obey the law of the Lord your God. 22:13 Then you will succeed, if you carefully obey the rules and regulations which the Lord ordered Moses to give to Israel. Be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! 22:14 Now, look, I have made every effort to supply what is needed to build the Lord’s temple. I have stored up 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and so much bronze and iron it cannot be weighed, as well as wood and stones. Feel free to add more! 22:15 You also have available many workers, including stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and an innumerable array of workers who are skilled 22:16 in using gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Get up and begin the work! May the Lord be with you!”

22:17 David ordered all the officials of Israel to support his son Solomon. 22:18 He told them, “The Lord your God is with you! He has made you secure on every side, for he handed over to me the inhabitants of the region and the region is subdued before the Lord and his people. 22:19 Now seek the Lord your God wholeheartedly and with your entire being! Get up and build the sanctuary of the Lord God! Then you can bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy items dedicated to God’s service into the temple that is built to honor the Lord.”

David Organizes the Levites

23:1 When David was old and approaching the end of his life, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.

23:2 David assembled all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and the Levites. 23:3 The Levites who were thirty years old and up were counted; there were 38,000 men. 23:4 David said, “Of these, 24,000 are to direct the work of the Lord’s temple; 6,000 are to be officials and judges; 23:5 4,000 are to be gatekeepers; and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments I supplied for worship.” 23:6 David divided them into groups corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

23:7 The Gershonites included Ladan and Shimei.

23:8 The sons of Ladan:

Jehiel the oldest, Zetham, and Joel – three in all.

23:9 The sons of Shimei:

Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran – three in all.

These were the leaders of the family of Ladan.

23:10 The sons of Shimei:

Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were Shimei’s sons – four in all. 23:11 Jahath was the oldest and Zizah the second oldest. Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were considered one family with one responsibility.

23:12 The sons of Kohath:

Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel – four in all.

23:13 The sons of Amram:

Aaron and Moses.

Aaron and his descendants were chosen on a permanent basis to consecrate the most holy items, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to serve him, and to praise his name. 23:14 The descendants of Moses the man of God were considered Levites.

23:15 The sons of Moses:

Gershom and Eliezer.

23:16 The son of Gershom:

Shebuel the oldest.

23:17 The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah, the oldest. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many descendants.

23:18 The son of Izhar:

Shelomith the oldest.

23:19 The sons of Hebron:

Jeriah the oldest, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

23:20 The sons of Uzziel:

Micah the oldest, and Isshiah the second.

23:21 The sons of Merari:

Mahli and Mushi.

The sons of Mahli:

Eleazar and Kish.