his four sons that were with him hid themselves. Now Araunah was threshing wheat. And as David came to Araunah, Araunah looked forth and saw the king and his servants coming toward him: and Araunah went out of the threshing-floor, and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build thereon an altar unto the Lord: for the full price shalt thou give it me: that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Araunah said unto David, Take it thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments and the furniture of the oxen for the wood, and the wheat for the meal offering: all this, O king, doth Araunah give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee. And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will verily buy it of thee for the full price: for I will not take what is thine for the Lord, neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty* shekels of silver. And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. And the Lord commanded the angel: and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof, and the plague was stayed from Israel. At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the angel of the Lord. I Chron. 22:1. Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.

Made Place for Sacrifice

Site for Temple

* In Chronicles, six hundred shekels of gold. Appendix C. Chronicles III., 1 (6).

I Chron. 22:2. And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. 3. And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the couplings; and brass in abundance without weight; 4. and cedar trees without number; for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought cedar trees in abundance to David. 5. And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and glory throughout all countries: I will therefore make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death. 6. Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7. And David said to Solomon his son, As for me, it was in my heart to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God. 8. But 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: 9. behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will

Charge to Solomon

*Notice the additional reason given in I Chron. 17:4-15. And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in: for I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel, unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. In all places wherein I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedar? Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee; and I will make thee a name, like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth. Moreover I tell thee, that the Lord will build thee an house. And it shall come to pass, when thy days be fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: but I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom forever: and his throne shall be established forever.

give him rest from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days: 10. he shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. II. Now, my son, the Lord be with thee: prosper thou, and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken concerning thee. 12. Only the Lord give thee discretion and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel; that so thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God. 13. Then shalt thou prosper, if thou observe to do the statutes and the judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel; be strong and of good courage; fear not, neither be dismayed. 14. Now, behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance; timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto. 15. Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all men that are cunning in any manner of work; 16. of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number; arise and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.

Command to Princes of Israel

17. David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 18. Is not the Lord your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath delivered the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people. 19. Now set your heart and your soul to seek after the Lord your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.

I Chron, 23:1. king over Israel. 2.

Number and Service of the Levites

Now David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. 3. And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand. 4. Of these, twenty and four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were officers and judges: 5. and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith. 6. And David divided them into courses according to the sons of Levi; GERSHON, KOHATH, and MERARI. 7. Of the GERSHONITES; Ladan and Shimei. 8. The sons of Ladan; Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. 9. The sons of Shimei; Shelometh, and 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 Beraiah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11. And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beraiah had not many sons; therefore they became a fathers' house in one reckoning. 12. The sons of KOHATH; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. 13. The 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. 14. But as for Moses the man of God, his sons were named 15. The sons of Moses; Gershom and Eliezer.

among the tribe of Levi.

And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Gershom; Shebuel the chief: of the sons of Shebuel, Jehdeiah. And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer had none other sons: but the sons of Rehabiah were many, Isshiah the chief. The sons of Izhar; Shelomith the chief; of the sons of Shelomith, Jahath. The sons of Hebron; Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. The sons of Uzziel; Micah the chief; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. The sons of MERARI: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Jaaziah; Beno, and Shoham, and Zaccur, and Ibri. The sons of Mahli; Eleazar and Kish. And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters only: and their brethren the sons of Kish, Jerameel, took them to wife. The sons of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three. These were the sons of Levi after their fathers' houses, even the heads of the fathers' houses of those that were counted, in the number of names by their polls, who did the work for the service of the house of the Lord from twenty years old and upward. These likewise cast lots even as their brethren the sons of Aaron in the presence of David the king, and Zadok, and Abimelech, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites; the fathers' houses of the chief even as those of his younger brother. I Chron. 23:25. For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, hath given rest unto his people; and he dwelleth in Jerusalem for ever: 26. and also the Levites shall no more have need to carry the tabernacle and all the vessels of it for the service thereof. 27. For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered, from twenty years old and upward. 28. For 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, even the work of the service of the house of God; 29. for the shewbread also, and for the fine flour for a meal offering, whether of unleavened wafers, or of that which is baked in the pan, or of that which is soaked, and for all manner of measure and size; 30. and to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even; 31. and to offer all burnt offerings unto the Lord, in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, in number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord: 32. and that they should keep the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, for the service of the house of the Lord.

Twenty-four Courses of the Priests

I Chron. 24:1. And the courses of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron; Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2. But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children: therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priest's office. 3. And David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their ordering in their service. 4. And there were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and thus were they divided: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, heads of fathers' houses; and of the sons of Ithamar, according to their fathers' houses, eight. 5. Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God. both of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar. 6. And Shemaiah the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was of the Levites, wrote them in the presence of the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of