Through the Bible – Day 150

₁David called a meeting in Jerusalem for all Israel's leaders, including the tribal leaders, the government officials, the army commanders, the officials in charge of the royal property and livestock, the palace officials, and the brave warriors.

₂After everyone was there, David stood up and said:

₁₁After David finished speaking, he gave Solomon the plans for building the main rooms of the temple, including the porch, the storerooms, the rooms upstairs and downstairs, as well as the most holy place. ₁₂He gave Solomon his plans for the courtyards and the open areas around the temple, and for the rooms to store the temple treasures and gifts that had been dedicated to God.

₁₃David also gave Solomon his plans for dividing the priests and the Levites into groups, as well as for the work that needed to be done at the temple and for taking care of the objects used for worship. ₁₄He told Solomon how much gold and silver was to be used in making the sacred objects, ₁₅including the lampstands and lamps, ₁₆the gold table which held the sacred loaves of bread, the tables made of silver, ₁₇the meat forks, the bowls and cups, ₁₈the gold incense altar, and the gold statue of a chariot for the winged creatures which were on the lid of the sacred chest.

₁₉David then said to Solomon:

₁David told the crowd:

₆After David finished speaking, the family leaders, the tribal leaders, the army commanders, and the government officials voluntarily gave gifts ₇for the temple. These gifts included more than a hundred and seventy tonnes of gold, over three hundred and forty tonnes of silver, six hundred and twenty tonnes of bronze, and more than three thousand four hundred tonnes of iron. ₈Everyone who owned precious stones also donated them to the temple treasury, where Jehiel from the Levite clan of Gershon guarded them.

₉David and the people were very happy that so much had been given to the LORD, and they all celebrated.

₁₀Then, in front of everyone, David sang praises to the LORD:

₂₀David then said to the people, “Now it's your turn to praise the LORD, the God your ancestors worshipped!” So everyone praised the LORD, and they bowed down to honour him and David their king.

₂₁The next day, the Israelites slaughtered a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, and they offered them as sacrifices to please the LORD, along with offerings of wine. ₂₂The people were very happy, and they ate and drank there at the LORD's altar.

That same day, Solomon was crowned king. The people celebrated and poured olive oil on Solomon's head to show that he would be their next king. They also poured oil on Zadok's head to show that he was their priest.

₂₃So Solomon became king after David his father. Solomon was successful, and everyone in Israel obeyed him. ₂₄Every official and every soldier, as well as all David's other sons, were loyal to him. ₂₅The LORD made Solomon a great king, and the whole nation was amazed at how famous he was. In fact, no other king of Israel was as great as Solomon.

₂₆David the son of Jesse was king of Israel ₂₇for forty years. He ruled from Hebron for seven years and from Jerusalem for thirty-three years. ₂₈David was rich and respected and lived to be an old man. Then he died, and his son Solomon became king.

₂₉Everything David did while he was king is included in the history written by the prophets Samuel, Nathan, and Gad. ₃₀They wrote about his powerful rule and about the things that happened not only to him, but also to Israel and the other nations.

₁₂The next day a large crowd was in Jerusalem for Passover. When they heard that Jesus was coming for the festival, ₁₃they took palm branches and went out to greet him. They shouted,

₁₄Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, just as the Scriptures say,

₁₆At first, Jesus' disciples did not understand. But after he had been given his glory, they remembered all this. Everything had happened exactly as the Scriptures said it would.

_17-18A crowd had come to meet Jesus because they had seen him call Lazarus out of the tomb. They kept talking about him and this miracle. ₁₉But the Pharisees said to each other, “There is nothing that can be done! Everyone in the world is following Jesus.”

₂₀Some Greeks had gone to Jerusalem to worship during Passover. ₂₁Philip from Bethsaida in Galilee was there too. So they went to him and said, “Sir, we would like to meet Jesus.” ₂₂Philip told Andrew. Then the two of them went to Jesus and told him.

₂₃Jesus said:

A voice from heaven then said, “I have already brought glory to myself, and I will do it again!” ₂₉When the crowd heard the voice, some of them thought it was thunder. Others thought an angel had spoken to Jesus.

₃₀Then Jesus told the crowd, “That voice spoke to help you, not me. ₃₁This world's people are now being judged, and the ruler of this world is already being thrown out! ₃₂If I am lifted up above the earth, I will make everyone want to come to me.” ₃₃Jesus was talking about the way he would be put to death.

₃₄The crowd said to Jesus, “The Scriptures teach that the Messiah will live for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”

₃₅Jesus answered, “The light will be with you for only a little longer. Walk in the light while you can. Then you won't be caught walking blindly in the dark. ₃₆Have faith in the light while it is with you, and you will be children of the light.”

After Jesus had said these things, he left and went into hiding.