Now, to show my commitment to the temple of my God, I donate my personal treasure of gold and silver to the temple of my God, in addition to all that I have already supplied for this holy temple.

For all the gods of the nations are worthless, ¹  but the Lord made the heavens. ² 

But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors ¹  and worshiped instead ²  the gods of the native peoples ³  whom God had destroyed before them.

The priests and Levites consecrated themselves so they could bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.

He summoned his son Solomon and charged him to build a temple for the Lord God of Israel.

For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given his people rest and has permanently settled in Jerusalem. ¹ 

He told them: “You are the leaders of the Levites’ families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves and bring the ark of the Lord God of Israel up to the place I have prepared for it.

He appointed some of the Levites to serve before the ark of the Lord, to offer prayers, songs of thanks, and hymns to the Lord God of Israel.

Say this prayer: ¹  “Deliver us, O God who delivers us! Gather us! Rescue us from the nations! Then we will give thanks ²  to your holy name, and boast about your praiseworthy deeds.” ³ 

May the Lord God of Israel be praised, in the future and forevermore. ¹  Then all the people said, “We agree! ²  Praise the Lord!”

so ¹  it may become a reality ²  and you may gain lasting fame, ³  as people say, ⁴  ‘The Lord who commands armies is the God of Israel.’ ⁵  David’s dynasty ⁶  will be established before you,

for you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a dynasty ¹  for him. That is why your servant has had the courage to pray to you. ² 

David said to Solomon: “My son, I really wanted ¹  to build a temple to honor ²  the Lord my God.

This was the order in which they carried out their assigned responsibilities when they entered the Lord’s temple, according to the regulations given them by their ancestor ¹  Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had instructed him. ² 

David praised the Lord before the entire assembly: ¹  “O Lord God of our father Israel, you deserve praise forevermore!

O Lord God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, maintain the motives of your people and keep them devoted to you. ¹ 

So the God of Israel stirred up ¹  King Pul of Assyria (that is, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria), ²  and he carried away the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh and took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this very day.

David went out to meet them and said, ¹  “If you come to me in peace and want to help me, then I will make an alliance with you. ²  But if you come to betray me to my enemies when I have not harmed you, ³  may the God of our ancestors ⁴  take notice and judge!”

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 

The Lord God of Israel chose me out of my father’s entire family to become king over Israel and have a permanent dynasty. ¹  Indeed, ²  he chose Judah as leader, and my father’s family within Judah, and then he picked me out from among my father’s sons and made me king over all Israel. ³