6. He said to me, 'Your son Solomon is the one who will build my house and my courtyards. I have chosen him to be my son. And I will be his father.
7. I will make his kingdom secure. It will last forever. That will happen if he does not turn away from my commands and laws. He must continue to obey them, just as he is doing now.'
8. "So I'm giving you a command in the sight of all of the people of Israel. The Lord's community is watching. And our God is listening. I command you to be careful to follow all of the commands of the Lord your God. Then you will own this good land. You will pass it on to your children after you as their share forever.
9. "My son Solomon, always remember the God of your father. Serve him with all your heart. Do it with a mind that wants to obey him. The Lord looks deep down inside every heart. He understands the real reasons for everything you think. If you look to him, you will find him. But if you desert him, he will turn his back on you forever.
10. Think about it. The Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a holy place where he can live. So be strong. Get to work."
11. Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the porch of the temple. He gave him the plans for its buildings and its storerooms. He gave him the plans for its upper parts and its inside rooms. He gave him the plans for the place where sin is paid for and forgiven.
12. He gave him the plans for everything the Spirit of the Lord had put in his mind. There were plans for the courtyards of the Lord's temple. There were plans for all of the rooms that were around it. There were plans for the places where the treasure of God's temple would be kept. There were plans for the places where the things that were set apart for God would be kept.
13. David told Solomon how to separate the priests and Levites into groups. He gave him directions for all of the work they should do when they served in the Lord's temple. He also showed him how all of the articles should be used at the temple.
14. Different articles were used for different purposes. David told Solomon how much gold should be used for each gold article. He also told him how much silver should be used for each silver article.
15. He told him how much gold should be used to make each gold lampstand and its lamps. He told him how much silver should be used to make each silver lampstand and its lamps. The amount depended on how each lampstand would be used.
16. David told Solomon how much gold should be used to make each table for holy bread. He told him how much silver should be used to make the silver tables.
17. He told him how much pure gold should be used to make the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers. He told him how much gold should be used to make each gold dish. He told him how much silver should be used to make each silver dish.
18. And he told him how much pure gold should be used to make the altar for burning incense. David also gave Solomon the plan for the chariot of the gold cherubim. They spread their wings over the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
19. David said, "I have written everything down. The Lord's powerful hand helped me. He helped me understand every part of the plan."