2 King David gave orders for all the foreigners living in the land of Israel to assemble, and he put them to work. Some of them prepared stone blocks for building the Temple.
3 He supplied a large amount of iron for making nails and clamps for the wooden gates, and so much bronze that no one could weigh it.
4 He arranged for the people of Tyre and Sidon to bring him a large number of cedar logs.
5 David thought, “The Temple that my son Solomon is to build must be splendid and world-famous. But he is young and inexperienced, so I must make preparations for it.” So David got large amounts of the materials ready before he died.
6 He sent for his son Solomon and commanded him to build a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 David said to him, “My son, I wanted to build a temple to honour the Lord my God.
8 But the Lord told me that I had killed too many people and fought too many wars. And so, because of all the bloodshed I have caused, he would not let me build a temple for him.