1. THEN DAVID said, Here shall be the house of the Lord God, and here the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.
2. David commanded to gather together the strangers who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to hew out stones to build the house of God.
3. David prepared iron in abundance for nails for the doors of the gates and for the couplings, and bronze in abundance without weighing,
4. Also cedar trees without number, for the Sidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar timber to David.
5. David said, 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 prepared abundantly before his death.