1 Then David said, ^s“Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

David Prepares for Temple Building

2 David commanded to gather together the ^tresident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he ^uset stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. 3 David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, ^vas well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, 4 and cedar timbers without number, ^wfor the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David. 5 For David said, ^x“Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.

Solomon Charged to Build the Temple

6 Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon, “My son, ^yI had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. 8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^z‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. ^aI will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. ^bFor his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 ^cHe shall build a house for my name. ^dHe shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’

11 “Now, my son, ^ethe Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you. 12 ^fOnly, may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 13 ^gThen you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. ^hBe strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed. 14 With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord ⁱ100,000 talents¹ of gold, a million talents of silver, and ^jbronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided. To these you must add. 15 You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working 16 gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and work! ^kThe Lord be with you!”

17 David also commanded ^lall the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 18 “Is not the Lord your God with you? And ^mhas he not given you peace² on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people. 19 Now ⁿset your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, ^oso that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built ^pfor the name of the Lord.”

David Organizes the Levites

1 ^qWhen David was old and full of days, ^rhe made Solomon his son king over Israel.

2 David³ assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites, ^sthirty years old and upward, were numbered, and ^tthe total was ^u38,000 men. 4 “Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said,^{4 v}“shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 shall be ^wofficers and judges, 5 4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments ^xthat I have made for praise.” 6 ^yAnd David organized them in divisions ^zcorresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 ^aThe sons of Gershon⁵ were Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan: ^bJehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. 9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan. 10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, therefore they became counted as a single father’s house.

12 ^cThe sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. 13 ^dThe sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. ^eAaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should ^fmake offerings before the Lord and ^gminister to him and ^hpronounce blessings in his name forever. 14 But the sons of Moses the ⁱman of God were named among the ^jtribe of Levi. 15 The ^ksons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The sons of Gershom: ^lShebuel the chief. 17 The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. 19 The ^msons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 ⁿThe sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

21 ^oThe sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and ^pKish. 22 Eleazar died ^qhaving no sons, but only daughters; their ^rkinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them. 23 ^sThe sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

24 ^tThese were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, the heads of fathers’ houses ^uas they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from ^vtwenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord. 25 For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, ^whas given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 And so the Levites no longer need ^xto carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from ^vtwenty years old and upward. 28 For their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God. 29 Their duty was also to assist with the ^yshowbread, the ^zflour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the ^abaked offering, the ^boffering mixed with oil, and all ^cmeasures of quantity or size. 30 And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening, 31 and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the Lord ^don Sabbaths, ^enew moons, and feast days, ^faccording to the number required of them, regularly before the Lord. 32 Thus ^gthey were to keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and to attend the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the ^hservice of the house of the Lord.

David Organizes the Priests

1 The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of ⁱAaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2 ^jBut Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no children, so Eleazar and Ithamar became the priests. 3 With the help of ^kZadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service. 4 Since more chief men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, they organized them under sixteen heads of fathers’ houses of the sons of Eleazar, and eight of the sons of Ithamar. 5 They divided them ^lby lot, all alike, for there were sacred officers and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. 6 And the scribe Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king and the princes and Zadok the priest and ^mAhimelech the son of Abiathar and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites, one father’s house being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar.

7 The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, 8 the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, 9 the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, 10 the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to ⁿAbijah, 11 the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, 12 the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, 13 the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, 14 the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, 15 the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, 16 the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, 17 the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, 18 the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. 19 These had as their appointed duty in their service ^oto come into the house of the Lord according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

20 And of the rest of the sons of Levi: ^pof the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. 21 ^qOf Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief. 22 Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. 23 ^rThe sons of Hebron:⁶ Jeriah the chief,⁷ Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. 24 ^sThe sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. 25 The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. 26 ^tThe sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Jaaziah: Beno.⁸ 27 The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. 28 Of Mahli: Eleazar, ^uwho had no sons. 29 Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerahmeel. 30 ^vThe sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses. 31 These also, the head of each father’s house and his younger brother alike, ^wcast lots, just as their brothers the sons of Aaron, in the presence of King David, ^xZadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^jTiberius Caesar, ^kPontius Pilate ^lbeing governor of Judea, and ^mHerod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during ⁿthe high priesthood of Annas and ^oCaiaphas, ^pthe word of God came to ^qJohn the son of Zechariah in ^rthe wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^sa baptism of repentance ^tfor the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in ^uthe book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^c“You brood of ^dvipers! Who warned you to flee from ^ethe wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits ^fin keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^g‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^hthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ⁱEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10 And the crowds asked him, ^j“What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, ^k“Whoever has two tunics² is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 ^lTax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^jwhat shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, ^m“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^jwhat shall we do?” And he said to them, ^m“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ⁿwages.”

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^owhether he might be ^pthe Christ, 16 ^qJohn answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^rhe who is mightier than I is coming, ^sthe strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^twith the Holy Spirit and ^ufire. 17 His ^vwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^wgather the wheat into his barn, ^xbut the chaff he will burn with ^yunquenchable fire.”

18 So ^zwith many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But ^aHerod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that ^bhe locked up John in prison.

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when ^cJesus also had been baptized and was praying, ^dthe heavens were opened, 22 and ^ethe Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and ^fa voice came from heaven, ^g“You are my beloved Son;³ with you I am well pleased.”⁴

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

23 Jesus, ^hwhen he began his ministry, was about ⁱthirty years of age, being ^jthe son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, ^kthe son of Zerubbabel, the son ^lof Shealtiel,⁵ the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of ^mNathan, the son of David, 32 ⁿthe son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 ^othe son of Jacob, ^pthe son of Isaac, ^qthe son of Abraham, ^rthe son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.