From the Death of Saul to the Death of David - Flavius Josephus

large quantity of emeralds, and all sorts of precious stones; and he said, that
even now he would give of the proper goods of his own dominion two
hundred talents, and three hundred other talents of pure gold, for the most
holy place, and for the chariot of God, the cherubim, which are to stand over
and cover the ark. Now when David had done speaking, there appeared great
alacrity among the rulers, and the priests, and the Levites, who now
contributed and made great and splendid promises for a future Contribution;
for they undertook to bring of gold five thousand talents, and ten thousand
drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and many ten thousand talents of
iron; and if any one had a precious stone he brought it, and bequeathed it to
be put among the treasures; of which Jachiel, one of the posterity of Moses,
had the care.
10. Upon this occasion all the people rejoiced, as in particular did David,
when he saw the zeal and forward ambition of the rulers, and the priests, and
of all the rest; and he began to bless God with a loud voice, calling him the
Father and Parent of the universe, and the Author of human and divine
things, with which he had adorned Solomon, the patron and guardian of the
Hebrew nation, and of its happiness, and of that kingdom which he hath
given his son. Besides this, he prayed for happiness to all the people; and to
Solomon his son, a sound and a righteous mind, and confirmed in all sorts of
virtue; and then he commanded the multitude to bless God; upon which they
all fell down upon the ground and worshipped him. They also gave thanks to
David, on account of all the blessings which they had received ever since he
had taken the kingdom. On the next day he presented sacrifices to God, a
thousand bullocks, and as many lambs, which they offered for burntofferings.
They also offered peace-offerings, and slew many ten thousand
sacrifices; and the king feasted all day, together with all the people; and they
anointed Solomon a second time with the oil, and appointed him to be king,
and Zadok to be the high priest of the whole multitude. And when they had
brought Solomon to the royal palace, and had set him upon his father's
throne, they were obedient to him from that day.
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