“Go, tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must not build me a house in which to live.

“Now, my son, may the Lord be with you! May you succeed and build a temple for the Lord your God, just as he announced you would. ¹ 

But God said to me, ‘You must not build a temple to honor me, ¹  for you are a warrior and have spilled blood.’

The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. ¹ 

On my right the young rabble ¹  rise up; they drive me from place to place, ²  and build up siege ramps ³  against me. ⁴ 

If she is a wall, ¹  we will build on her a battlement ²  of silver; but if she is a door, we will barricade ³  her with boards ⁴  of cedar. ⁵ 

He says, “I will build myself a large palace with spacious upper rooms.” He cuts windows in its walls, panels it ¹  with cedar, and paints its rooms red. ² 

Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp ¹  against it! Post soldiers outside it ²  and station battering rams around it.

They say, ¹  ‘The time is not near to build houses; ²  the city ³  is a cooking pot ⁴  and we are the meat in it.’

Go up to the hill country and bring back timber to build ¹  the temple. ²  Then I will be pleased and honored,’ ³  says the Lord.

He replied, “To build a temple ¹  for her in the land of Babylonia. ²  When it is finished, she will be placed there in her own residence.”

So I have decided ¹  to build a temple to honor the Lord ²  my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.’ ³ 

Of course, who can really build a temple for him, since the sky ¹  and the highest heavens cannot contain him? Who am I that I should build him a temple! It will really be only a place to offer sacrifices before him. ² 

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ¹  to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”

Edom ¹  says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all ²  responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as ³  the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.

If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it ¹  of stones shaped with tools, ²  for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it. ³ 

Then when the Lord your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you – a land with large, fine cities you did not build,

You shall build a roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent ¹  of your land that the Lord your God is providing as your inheritance; anyone who kills another person should flee to the closest of these cities.

However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, ¹  and you may use it to build siege works ²  against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.

You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape ¹  her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it.