1 Chronicles 16–18

16They ^mbrought the ark of God and placed it inside the tent David had pitched for it. ⁿThen they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in God’s presence. ²When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh. ³Then he distributed to each and every Israelite, both men and women, a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake.

⁴David appointed some of the Levites to be ministers before the ark of the Lord, to celebrate the Lord God of Israel, and to give thanks and praise to Him. ⁵Asaph was the chief and Zechariah was second to him. Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel played the harps and lyres, while Asaph sounded the cymbals ⁶and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

David’s Psalm of Thanksgiving

⁷On that day David decreed for the first time that thanks be given to the Lord by Asaph and his relatives:

⁸Give thanks ^oto Yahweh; call on His name;

proclaim His deeds among the peoples. ^p

⁹Sing to Him; sing praise to Him;

tell about all His wonderful works!

¹⁰Honor His holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek Yahweh rejoice.

¹¹Search for the Lord and for His strength;

seek His face always. ^q

¹²Remember the wonderful works He has done, ^r

His wonders, and the judgments He has pronounced, ^st

¹³you offspring of Israel His servant,

Jacob’s descendants—His chosen ones.

¹⁴He is the Lord our God;

His judgments govern the whole earth. ^u

¹⁵Remember His covenant forever—

the promise He ordained for a thousand generations,

¹⁶the covenant He made with Abraham,

swore ^vto Isaac, ^w

¹⁷and confirmed to Jacob as a decree,

and to Israel as an everlasting covenant: ^x

¹⁸“I will give the land of Canaan to you

as your inherited portion.” ^y

¹⁹When they ^zwere few in number,

very few indeed, ^aand temporary residents in Canaan

²⁰wandering from nation to nation

and from one kingdom to another,

²¹He allowed no one to oppress them;

He rebuked kings on their behalf: ^b

²²“Do not touch My anointed ones

or harm My prophets.” ^c

²³Sing ^dto the Lord, all the earth.

Proclaim His salvation from day to day.

²⁴Declare His glory among the nations,

His wonderful works among all peoples.

²⁵For the Lord is great and highly praised; ^e

He is feared above all gods. ^f

²⁶For all the gods of the peoples are idols, ^g

but the Lord made the heavens. ^h

²⁷Splendor and majesty are before Him;

strength and joy are in His place.

²⁸Ascribe to the Lord, families of the peoples,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

²⁹Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name;

bring an offering and come before Him.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; ⁱ

³⁰tremble ^jbefore Him, all the earth.

The world is firmly established;

it cannot be shaken.

³¹Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice, ^k

and let them say among the nations, “The Lord is King!”

³²Let the sea and everything in it resound;

let the fields and all that is in them exult. ^l

³³Then the trees of the forest will shout for joy before the Lord,

for He is coming to judge the earth.

³⁴Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

His faithful love endures forever. ^m

³⁵And say: ⁿ“Save us, God of our salvation;

gather us and rescue us from the nations

so that we may give thanks to Your holy name

and rejoice in Your praise.

³⁶May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised ^o

from everlasting to everlasting.”

Then all the people said, “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”

³⁷So David left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the Lord’s covenant to minister regularly ^pbefore the ark according to the daily requirements. ^q38He assigned Obed-edom ^rand his ^s68 relatives. Obed-edom son of Jeduthun and Hosah ^twere to be gatekeepers. ³⁹David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon ^u40to offer burnt offerings regularly, morning and evening, to the Lord on the altar of burnt offerings and to do everything that was written in the law of the Lord, which He had commanded Israel to keep. ^v41With them were Heman, ^wJeduthun, and the rest who were chosen and designated by name ^xto give thanks to the Lord—for His faithful love endures forever. ^y42Heman and Jeduthun had with them trumpets and cymbals to play and musical instruments of God. ^zJeduthun’s sons were at the gate.

⁴³Then all the people left for their homes, and David returned home to bless his household. ^a

The Lord’s Covenant with David

17When David ^bhad settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a cedar house while the ark of the Lord’s covenant is under tent curtains.” ^c

²So Nathan told David, “Do all that is on your heart, for God is with you.”

³But that night ^dthe word of God came to Nathan: ⁴“Go to David My servant and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build Me a house to dwell in. ^e5From the time I brought Israel out of Egypt until today I have not lived in a house; instead, I have moved from tent to tent and from tabernacle to tabernacle. ^f6In all My travels throughout Israel, have I ever spoken a word to even one of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, asking: Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’ ^g

⁷“Now this is what you will say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel. ^h8I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a name for you like that of the greatest in the land. ⁹I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, ⁱso that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they formerly have ¹⁰ever since the day I ordered judges to be over My people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.

“ ‘Furthermore, I declare to you that the Lord Himself will build a house for you. ¹¹When your time comes to be with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who is one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹²He will build a house for Me, ^jand I will establish his throne forever. ¹³I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. ^kI will not take away My faithful love from him as I took it from the one who was before you. ^l14I will appoint him over My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.’ ” ^m

¹⁵Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.

David’s Prayer of Thanksgiving

¹⁶Then ⁿKing David went in, sat in the Lord’s presence, and said,

Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? ¹⁷This was a little thing to You, ^oGod, for You have spoken about Your servant’s house in the distant future. You regard me as a man of distinction, ^pLord God. ¹⁸What more can David say to You for honoring Your servant? You know Your servant. ¹⁹Lord, You have done all this greatness, making known all these great promises because of Your servant and according to Your will. ^q20Lord, there is no one like You, and there is no God besides You, as all we have heard confirms. ²¹And who is like Your people Israel? God, You came to one nation on earth to redeem a people for Yourself, to make a name for Yourself through great and awesome works by driving out nations before Your people You redeemed from Egypt. ^r22You made Your people Israel Your own people forever, and You, Lord, have become their God. ^s

²³Now, Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house be confirmed forever, and do as You have promised. ²⁴Let Your name be confirmed and magnified forever in the saying, “Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God over Israel.” May the house of Your servant David be established before You. ²⁵Since You, my God, have revealed to ^tuYour servant that You will build him a house, Your servant has found courage to pray in Your presence. ²⁶Yahweh, You indeed are God, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant. ²⁷So now, You have been pleased to bless Your servant’s house that it may continue before You forever. For You, Lord, have blessed it, and it is blessed forever.

David’s Military Campaigns

18After this, ^vDavid defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its villages from Philistine control. ²He also defeated the Moabites, and they became David’s subjects and brought tribute.

³David also defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah at Hamath when he went to establish his control at the Euphrates River. ⁴David captured 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers from him, hamstrung all the horses, and kept 100 chariots. ^w

⁵When the Arameans of Damascus came to assist King Hadadezer of Zobah, ^xDavid struck down 22,000 Aramean men. ⁶Then he placed garrisons ^yzin Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord made David victorious wherever he went.

⁷David took the gold shields carried by Hadadezer’s officers and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸From Tibhath and Cun, Hadadezer’s cities, David also took huge quantities of bronze, from which Solomon made the bronze reservoir, the pillars, and the bronze articles. ^a

⁹When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, ¹⁰he sent his son Hadoram to King David to greet him and to congratulate him because David had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Tou and Hadadezer had fought many wars. Hadoram brought all kinds of gold, silver, and bronze items. ¹¹King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had carried off from all the nations—from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and the Amalekites.

¹²Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. The Lord made David…