1 Chronicles 16–18

So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God. ²And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. ³And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. ⁴And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to ^arecord, and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: ^5bAsaph the chief, and ^cnext to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom: and Jeiel with ^dpsalteries and with ^dharps; but Asaph made a sound with ^dcymbals; ⁶Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with ^etrumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷Then on that day David delivered ^ffirst this psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of ^bAsaph and his brethren.

^8gGive thanks unto the Lord, ^hcall upon his name,

ⁱMake known his deeds among the people.

⁹Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him,

^kTalk you of all his wondrous works.

¹⁰Glory ye in his holy name:

Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.

¹¹Seek the Lord and his strength,

^lSeek his face continually.

^12mRemember his marvellous works that he hath done,

His ⁿwonders, and the judgments of his mouth;

¹³O ye seed of Israel his servant,

Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

¹⁴He is the Lord our God;

His ^ojudgments are in all the earth.

¹⁵Be ye mindful always of his covenant;

The word which he commanded to a thousand generations;

¹⁶Even of the covenant ^pwhich he made with Abraham,

And of his ^poath unto Isaac;

¹⁷And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law,

And to Israel for an everlasting covenant,

¹⁸Saying, ^qUnto thee will I give the land of Canaan,

The lot of your inheritance;

¹⁹When ye were but few,

Even ^ra few, and ^sstrangers in it.

²⁰And when they went from nation to nation,

And from one kingdom to another people;

^21tHe suffered no man to do them wrong:

Yea, he ^ureproved kings for their sakes,

²²Saying, Touch not mine anointed,

And do my ^xprophets no harm.

^23ySing unto the Lord, all the earth;

Shew forth from day to day his salvation.

²⁴Declare his glory among the heathen;

His marvellous works among all nations.

²⁵For ^zgreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised:

He also is to be feared ^aabove all gods.

²⁶For all the gods of the people are ^bidols:

^cBut the Lord made the heavens.

²⁷Glory and honour are in his presence;

Strength and ^dgladness are in his place.

²⁸Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people,

^eGive unto the Lord glory and strength.

^29fGive unto the Lord the glory due unto his name:

Bring an offering, and come before him:

Worship the Lord in ^gthe beauty of holiness.

³⁰Fear before him, all the earth:

The world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.

³¹Let the heavens be glad, and ^hlet the earth rejoice:

And let men say among the nations, ⁱThe Lord reigneth.

^32kLet the sea roar, and the fulness thereof:

Let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein.

³³Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord,

Because he cometh to judge the earth.

^34lO give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good;

For his mercy endureth for ever.

³⁵And say ye,

^mSave us, O God of our salvation,

And gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen,

That we may give thanks to thy holy name,

And glory in thy praise.

³⁶ⁿBlessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever.

^oAnd all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord.

³⁷So he left there ^pbefore the ark of the covenant of the Lord Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as ^qevery day’s work required: ³⁸and Obed-edom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and ^rHosah to be porters: ³⁹and ^sZadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord ^tin the high place that was at Gibeon, ⁴⁰to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord upon ^uthe altar of the burnt offering ^wcontinually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which he commanded Israel; ⁴¹and with them ^xHeman and ^yJeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who ^zwere expressed by name, to give thanks to the Lord, ^abecause his mercy endureth for ever; ⁴²and with them ^xHeman and ^yJeduthun with ^btrumpets and cymbals for those that should make a sound, and with ^bmusical instruments of God. And ^cthe sons of Jeduthun were porters. ^43dAnd all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house.

XVII.Now ^ait came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord remaineth under curtains. ²Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee. ³And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, ⁴Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in: ⁵for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. ⁶Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the ^bjudges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me a house of cedars? ⁷Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel: ⁸and I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth. ⁹Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness ^cwaste them any more, as at the beginning, ¹⁰and since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the Lord will build thee a house. ¹¹And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will stablish his kingdom. ¹²He shall build me a house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. ^13dI will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from ^ehim that was before thee: ¹⁴But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore. ¹⁵According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

¹⁶And David the king came and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? ¹⁷And ^fyet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast ^falso spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and ^ghast regarded me according to the ^hestate of a man of high degree, O Lord God. ¹⁸What can David speak more to thee for the honour of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant. ¹⁹O Lord, for thy ⁱservant’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. ²⁰O Lord, there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²¹And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt? ²²For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, Lord, becamest their God. ²³Therefore now, Lord, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said. ²⁴Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee. ²⁵For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him a house: therefore thy servant hath found ^kin his heart to pray before thee. ²⁶And now, Lord, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: ²⁷Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O Lord, and it shall be blessed for ever.

XVIII.Now ^aafter this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took ^bGath and her ^ctowns out of the hand of the Philistines. ²And he smote Moab; and the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts. ³And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto ^dHamath, as he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates. ⁴And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots. ⁵And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men. ⁶Then David put ^egarrisons in Syria-damascus; and the Syrians became David’s servants, and brought gifts. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. ⁷And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸Likewise from Tibhath, and from Chun, cities of Hadarezer, brought David very much brass, wherewith ^fSolomon made the brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass. ⁹Now when Tou king of ^dHamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah; ¹⁰he sent Hadoram his…