2 Samuel 7:2–5

¹SO they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.

¹¹¶ And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.

¹AND the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

⁴⁶Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

⁴Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?

¹⁷And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

²⁹Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,

¹MOREOVER thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

²The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and every one of the curtains shall have one measure.

³The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.

⁴And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make in the uttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.

⁵Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second; that the loops may take hold one of another.

⁶And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle.

⁷¶ And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make.

⁸The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure.

⁹And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle.

¹⁰And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

¹¹And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass, and put the taches into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one.

¹²And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle.

¹³And a cubit on the one side, and a cubit on the other side of that which remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent, it shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side, to cover it.

¹⁴And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins.

¹NOW Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and timber of cedars, with masons and carpenters, to build him an house.

⁴But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath-jearim to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.

¹⁷¶ And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

¹⁷According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

²¹And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹³¶ Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

¹⁴That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

¹⁵Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

⁵Until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.

⁷And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God:

¹⁷And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

¹⁸And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.

²Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:

⁷But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

²⁷And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.

²⁷But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

⁷And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

⁴Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.

⁴Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

³¶ And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

⁶And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

⁷Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

⁴Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in:

⁷And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God:

⁸But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

³Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

⁴Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were officers and judges:

⁵Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.

⁶And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷¶ Of the Gershonites were, Laadan, and Shimei.

⁸The sons of Laadan; the chief was Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.

⁹The sons of Shimei; Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the chief of the fathers of Laadan.

¹⁰And the sons of Shimei were, Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.

¹¹And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father’s house.

¹²¶ The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

¹³The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name for ever.

¹⁴Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the tribe of Levi.

¹⁵The sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer.

¹⁶Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief.

¹⁷And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer had none other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

¹⁸Of the sons of Izhar; Shelomith the chief.

¹⁹Of the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁰Of the sons of Uzziel; Michah the first, and Jesiah the second.

²¹¶ The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. The sons of Mahli; Eleazar, and Kish.

²²And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them.

²³The sons of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

²⁴¶ These were the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers; even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their polls, that did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from the age of twenty years and upward.

²⁵For David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever:

²⁶And also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof.

²⁷For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above:

²⁸Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God;

²⁹Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure and size;

³⁰And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even;

³¹And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the Lord:

³²And that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the Lord.

³Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.

⁴But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.

¹⁶Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

¹⁷And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

¹⁸And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.

¹⁹Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.