1. DAVID ASSEMBLED at Jerusalem all the leaders of Israel and of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king in courses, and those over thousands and hundreds, and the stewards over all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, with the palace officers, the mighty men, and all the mighty warriors.
2. Then David the king rose to his feet and said, Hear me, my brethren and my people. I myself intended to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as a footstool for our God, and I prepared materials for the building.
3. But God said to me, You shall not build a house for My Name [and Presence], because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.
4. However, the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me before all my father's house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah he chose the house of my father; and among the sons of my father He was pleased to make me king over all Israel;
5. And of all my sons, for the Lord has given me many sons, He has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.