Then David said, “Only the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve before him perpetually.

Wherever I moved throughout Israel, I did not say ¹  to any of the leaders whom I appointed to care for my people Israel, ²  ‘Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?’”’

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! ¹  As for these sheep – what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, ²  but remove the plague from your people!” ³ 

But the Lord said to me: ¹  ‘You have spilled a great deal of blood and fought many battles. You must not build a temple to honor me, ²  for you have spilled a great deal of blood on the ground before me.

David said to his son Solomon: “Be strong and brave! Do it! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! ¹  For the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not leave you or abandon you before all the work for the service of the Lord’s temple is finished.

King David said to the entire assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is just an inexperienced young man, ¹  and the task is great, for this palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.

The Lord greatly magnified Solomon before all Israel and bestowed on him greater majesty than any king of Israel before him. ¹