Friday, 24 May

1.   Then David said, "This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel." 2.   So David commanded to gather the aliens who were in the land of Israel; and he appointed masons to cut hewn stones to build the house of God. 3.   And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails of the doors of the gates and for the joints, and bronze in abundance beyond measure, 4.   and cedar trees in abundance; for the Sidonians and those from Tyre brought much cedar wood to David. 5.   Now David said, "Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all countries. I will now make preparation for it." So David made abundant preparations before his death. 6.   Then he called for his son Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the LORD God of Israel. 7.   And David said to Solomon: "My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of the LORD my God; 8.   "but the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. 9.   ‘Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. 10.   ‘He shall build a 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.’ 11.   "Now, my son, may the LORD be with you; and may you prosper, and build the house of the LORD your God, as He has said to you. 12.   "Only may the LORD give you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may keep the law of the LORD your God. 13.   "Then you will prosper, if you take care to fulfill the statutes and judgments with which the LORD charged Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and of good courage; do not fear nor be dismayed. 14.   "Indeed I have taken much trouble to prepare for the house of the LORD one hundred thousand talents of gold and one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond measure, for it is so abundant. I have prepared timber and stone also, and you may add to them. 15.   "Moreover there are workmen with you in abundance: woodsmen and stonecutters, and all types of skillful men for every kind of work. 16.   "Of gold and silver and bronze and iron there is no limit. Arise and begin working, and the LORD be with you." 17.   David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying , 18.   " Is not the LORD your God with you? And has He not given you rest on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the LORD and before His people. 19.   "Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God. Therefore arise and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy articles of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the LORD."

1.   So when David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2.   And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. 3.   Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and above; and the number of individual males was thirty–eight thousand. 4.   Of these, twenty–four thousand were to look after the work of the house of the LORD, six thousand were officers and judges, 5.   four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand praised the LORD with musical instruments, "which I made," said David , "for giving praise." 6.   Also David separated them into divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 7.   Of the Gershonites: Laadan and Shimei. 8.   The sons of Laadan: the first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel––three in all . 9.   The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran––three in all . These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Laadan. 10.   And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the four sons of Shimei. 11.   Jahath was the first and Zizah the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; therefore they were assigned as one father’s house. 12.   The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel––four in all . 13.   The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should sanctify the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to Him, and to give the blessing in His name forever. 14.   Now the sons of Moses the man of God were reckoned to the tribe of Levi. 15.   The sons of Moses were Gershon and Eliezer. 16.   Of the sons of Gershon, Shebuel was the first. 17.   Of the descendants of Eliezer, Rehabiah was the first. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18.   Of the sons of Izhar, Shelomith was the first. 19.   Of the sons of Hebron, Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20.   Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah was the first and Jesshiah the second. 21.   The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22.   And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but only daughters; and their brethren, the sons of Kish, took them as wives . 23.   The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth––three in all . 24.   These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses––the heads of the fathers’ houses as they were counted individually by the number of their names, who did the work for the service of the house of the LORD, from the age of twenty years and above. 25.   For David said, "The LORD God of Israel has given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever"; 26.   and also to the Levites, "They shall no longer carry the tabernacle, or any of the articles for its service." 27.   For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above; 28.   because their duty was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts and in the chambers, in the purifying of all holy things and the work of the service of the house of God, 29.   both with the showbread and the fine flour for the grain offering, with the unleavened cakes and what is baked in the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of measures and sizes; 30.   to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening; 31.   and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the set feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the LORD; 32.   and that they should attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place , and the needs of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of the LORD.

1.   Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2.   And Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children; therefore Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests. 3.   Then David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to the schedule of their service. 4.   There were more leaders found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar, and thus they were divided. Among the sons of Eleazar were sixteen heads of their fathers’ houses, and eight heads of their fathers’ houses among the sons of Ithamar. 5.   Thus they were divided by lot, one group as another, for there were officials of the sanctuary and officials of the house of God, from the sons of Eleazar and from the sons of Ithamar. 6.   And the scribe, Shemaiah the son of Nethanel, one of the Levites, wrote them down before the king, the leaders, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and Levites, one father’s house taken for Eleazar and one for Ithamar. 7.   Now 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 Abijah, 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 Jehezekel, 17.   the twenty–first to Jachin, the twenty–second to Gamul, 18.   the twenty–third to Delaiah, the twenty–fourth to Maaziah. 19.   This was the schedule of their service for coming into the house of the LORD according to their ordinance by the hand of Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him. 20.   And the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. 21.   Concerning Rehabiah, of the sons of Rehabiah, the first was Isshiah. 22.   Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. 23.   Of the sons of Hebron , Jeriah was the first , Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 24.   Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah; of the sons of Michah, Shamir. 25.   The brother of Michah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. 26.   The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi; the son of Jaaziah, Beno. 27.   The sons of Merari by Jaaziah were Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. 28.   Of Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. 29.   Of Kish: the son of Kish, Jerahmeel. 30.   Also the sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses. 31.   These also cast lots just as their brothers the sons of Aaron did, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and Levites. The chief fathers did just as their younger brethren.

1.   Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly––and indeed you do bear with me. 2.   For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3.   But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4.   For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted––you may well put up with it! 5.   For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles. 6.   Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things. 7.   Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8.   I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you. 9.   And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself . 10.   As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia. 11.   Why? Because I do not love you? God knows! 12.   But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. 13.   For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14.   And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15.   Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.