1 Chronicles 16–18

Chapter 16

¹And they brought in the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had spread for it; and they presented burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before God. ²And when David had ended offering up the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah. ³And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread and a measure of wine and a raisin-cake. ⁴And he appointed certain of the Levites to do the service before the ark of Jehovah, and to celebrate, and to thank and praise Jehovah the God of Israel: ⁵Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, with instruments of lutes and with harps; and Asaph sounding with cymbals; ⁶and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually, before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to give thanks to Jehovah through Asaph and his brethren. ⁸Give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name; Make known his acts among the peoples. ⁹Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him; Meditate upon all his wondrous works. ¹⁰Glory in his holy name: Let the heart of them rejoice that seek Jehovah. ¹¹Seek Jehovah and his strength, Seek his face continually; ¹²Remember his wondrous works which he hath done; His miracles, and the judgments of his mouth: ¹³Ye seed of Israel his servant, Ye sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. ¹⁴He, Jehovah, is our God; His judgments are in all the earth. ¹⁵Be ye ever mindful of his covenant, The word which he commanded to a thousand generations, — ¹⁶Which he made with Abraham, And of his oath unto Isaac; ¹⁷And he confirmed it unto Jacob for a statute, Unto Israel for an everlasting covenant, ¹⁸Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, The lot of your inheritance; ¹⁹When ye were a few men in number, Of small account, and strangers in it. ²⁰And they went from nation to nation, And from one kingdom to another people. ²¹He suffered no man to oppress them, And reproved kings for their sakes, ²²Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones, And do my prophets no harm. ²³Sing unto Jehovah, all the earth; Publish his salvation from day to day. ²⁴Declare his glory among the nations, His wondrous works among all peoples. ²⁵For Jehovah is great, and exceedingly to be praised; And he is terrible above all gods. ²⁶For all the gods of the peoples are idols; But Jehovah made the heavens. ²⁷Majesty and splendour are before him; Strength and gladness in his place. ²⁸Give unto Jehovah, ye families of peoples, Give unto Jehovah glory and strength! ²⁹Give unto Jehovah the glory of his name! Bring an oblation, and come before him: Worship Jehovah in holy splendour. ³⁰Tremble before him, all the earth: The world also is established, it shall not be moved. ³¹Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; And let them say among the nations, Jehovah reigneth! ³²Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; Let the field exult, and all that is therein. ³³Then shall the trees of the forest sing out at the presence of Jehovah, For he cometh to judge the earth. ³⁴Give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good; For his loving-kindness endureth for ever. ³⁵And say, Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us, and deliver us from the nations, To give thanks unto thy holy name, To triumph in thy praise. ³⁶Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, from eternity and to eternity! And all the people said, Amen! and praised Jehovah.

³⁷And he left there, before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, Asaph and his brethren, to do the service before the ark continually, as every day’s duty required; ³⁸and Obed-Edom, and their brethren, sixty-eight; Obed-Edom also, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah as doorkeepers. ³⁹And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of Jehovah in the high place that was at Gibeon, ⁴⁰to offer up burnt-offerings to Jehovah on the altar of burnt-offering continually, morning and evening, and according to all that is written in the law of Jehovah, which he commanded Israel; ⁴¹and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to Jehovah, because his loving-kindness endureth for ever; ⁴²and with them, with Heman and Jeduthun, trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud; and the musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were at the gate. ⁴³And all the people departed every one to his house; and David returned to bless his household.

Chapter 17

¹And it came to pass as David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Behold, I dwell in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah under curtains. ²And Nathan said to David, Do all that is in thy heart; for God is with thee. ³And it came to pass that night that the word of God came to Nathan saying, ⁴Go and say to David my servant, Thus saith Jehovah: 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 to this day; but I have been from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. ⁶In all my going about with all Israel, did I speak a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why build ye me not a house of cedars? ⁷And now, thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I took thee from the pasture-grounds, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel; ⁸and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name, like unto the name of the great men that are on the earth. ⁹And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and be disturbed no more; neither shall the sons of wickedness waste them any more, as formerly, ¹⁰and since the days that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. And I will subdue all thine enemies; and I tell thee that Jehovah will build thee a house. ¹¹And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. ¹²It is he who shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever. ¹³I will be his father, and he shall be my son; and I will not take away my mercy from him, as I took it from him that was before thee; ¹⁴and I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be established for ever. ¹⁵According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.

¹⁶And king David went in and sat before Jehovah, and said, Who am I, Jehovah Elohim, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? ¹⁷And this hath been a small thing in thy sight, O God; and thou hast spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, Jehovah Elohim. ¹⁸What can David say more to thee for the glory of thy servant? thou indeed knowest thy servant. ¹⁹Jehovah, for thy servant’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, to make known all these great things. ²⁰Jehovah, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²¹And who is like thy people Israel, the one nation in the earth that God went to redeem to be a people to himself, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, which thou hast redeemed out of Egypt? ²²And thy people Israel hast thou made thine own people for ever; and thou, Jehovah, art become their God. ²³And now, Jehovah, let the word 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, and let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, is God to Israel; and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee. ²⁵For thou, my God, hast revealed to thy servant that thou wilt build him a house; therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray before thee. ²⁶And now, Jehovah, thou art that God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant; ²⁷and now, let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever; for thou, Jehovah, hast blessed it, and it shall be blessed for ever.

Chapter 18

¹And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the Philistines. ²And he smote the Moabites; and the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts. ³And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah, at Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates. ⁴And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for a hundred chariots. ⁵And the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarezer king of Zobah, and David smote of the Syrians twenty-two thousand men. ⁶And David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And Jehovah preserved David whithersoever he went. ⁷And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸And from Tibhath, and from Chun, cities of Hadarezer, David took very much brass, of which Solomon made the brazen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.

⁹And Tou king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the forces of Hadarezer king of Zobah; ¹⁰and he sent Hadoram his son to king David to inquire of his welfare, and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadarezer and smitten him; for…