1 Chronicles 16–18

16They brought the Ark of God and put it inside the tent that David had set up for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God. ²When David had finished giving the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. ³He gave a loaf of bread, some dates, and raisins to every Israelite man and woman.

⁴Then David appointed some of the Levites to serve before the Ark of the Lord. They had the job of leading the worship and giving thanks and praising the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁵Asaph, who played the cymbals, was the leader. Zechariah was second to him. The other Levites were Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel. They played the lyres and harps. ⁶Benaiah and Jahaziel were priests who blew the trumpets regularly before the Ark of the Agreement with God. ⁷That day David first gave Asaph and his relatives the job of singing praises to the Lord.

David’s Song of Thanks

⁸Give thanks to the Lord and pray to him.

Tell the nations what he has done.

⁹Sing to him; sing praises to him.

Tell about all his miracles.

¹⁰Be glad that you are his;

let those who seek the Lord be happy.

¹¹Depend on the Lord and his strength;

always go to him for help.

¹²Remember the miracles he has done,

his wonders, and his decisions.

¹³You are the descendants of his servant, Israel;

you are the children of Jacob, his chosen people.

¹⁴He is the Lord our God.

His laws are for all the world.

¹⁵He will keep his agreement forever;

he will keep his promises always.

¹⁶He will keep the agreement he made with Abraham

and the promise he made to Isaac.

¹⁷He made it a law for the people of Jacob;

he made it an agreement with Israel to last forever.

¹⁸He said, “I will give the land of Canaan to you,

to belong to you.”

¹⁹Then God’s people were few in number,

and they were strangers in the land.

²⁰They went from one nation to another,

from one kingdom to another.

²¹But he did not let anyone hurt them;

he warned kings not to harm them.

²²He said, “Don’t touch my chosen people,

and don’t harm my prophets.”

²³Sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Every day tell how he saves us.

²⁴Tell the nations about his glory;

tell all peoples the miracles he does.

²⁵The Lord is great; he should be praised.

He should be respected more than all the gods.

²⁶All the gods of the nations are only idols,

but the Lord made the skies.

²⁷He has glory and majesty;

he has power and joy in his Temple.

²⁸Praise the Lord, all nations on earth.

Praise the Lord’s glory and power;

²⁹praise the glory of the Lord’s name.

Bring an offering and come to him.

Worship the Lord because he is holy.

³⁰Tremble before him, everyone on earth.

The earth is set, and it cannot be moved.

³¹Let the skies rejoice and the earth be glad.

Let people everywhere say, “The Lord is king!”

³²Let the sea and everything in it shout;

let the fields and everything in them rejoice.

³³Then the trees of the forest will sing

for joy before the Lord.

They will sing because he is coming to judge the world.

³⁴Thank the Lord because he is good.

His love continues forever.

³⁵Say to him, “Save us, God our Savior,

and bring us back and save us from other nations.

Then we will thank you

and will gladly praise you.”

³⁶Praise the Lord, the God of Israel.

He always was and always will be.

All the people said “Amen” and praised the Lord.

³⁷Then David left Asaph and the other Levites there in front of the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord. They were to serve there every day. ³⁸David also left Obed-Edom and sixty-eight other Levites to serve with them. Hosah and Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun were guards.

³⁹David left Zadok the priest and the other priests who served with him in front of the Tent of the Lord at the place of worship in Gibeon. ⁴⁰Every morning and evening they offered burnt offerings on the altar of burnt offerings, following the rules written in the Teachings of the Lord, which he had given Israel. ⁴¹With them were Heman and Jeduthun and other Levites. They were chosen by name to sing praises to the Lord because his love continues forever. ⁴²Heman and Jeduthun also had the job of playing the trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments when songs were sung to God. Jeduthun’s sons guarded the gates.

⁴³Then all the people left. Each person went home, and David also went home to bless the people in his home.

God’s Promise to David

17When David moved into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a palace made of cedar, but the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord sits in a tent.”

²Nathan said to David, “Do what you want to do, because God is with you.”

³But that night God spoke his word to Nathan, saying, ⁴“Go and tell David my servant, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the person to build a house for me to live in. ⁵From the time I brought Israel out of Egypt until now I have not lived in a house. I have moved from one tent site to another and from one place to another. ⁶As I have moved with the Israelites to different places, I have never said to the leaders, whom I commanded to take care of my people, “Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar?” ’

⁷“Now, tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: I took you from the pasture and from tending the sheep and made you king of my people Israel. ⁸I have been with you everywhere you have gone. I have defeated your enemies for you. I will make you as famous as any of the great people on the earth. ⁹I will choose a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so they can live in their own homes. They will not be bothered anymore. Wicked people will no longer hurt them as they have in the past ¹⁰when I chose judges for my people Israel. I will defeat all your enemies.

“ ‘I tell you that the Lord will make your descendants kings of Israel after you. ¹¹When you die and join your ancestors, I will make one of your sons the new king, and I will set up his kingdom. ¹²He will build a house for me, and I will let his kingdom rule always. ¹³I will be his father, and he will be my son. I took away my love from Saul, who ruled before you, but I will never stop loving your son. ¹⁴I will put him in charge of my house and kingdom forever. His family will rule forever.’ ”

¹⁵Nathan told David everything God had said in this vision.

David Prays to God

¹⁶Then King David went in and sat in front of the Lord. David said, “Lord God, who am I? What is my family? Why did you bring me to this point? ¹⁷But that was not enough for you, God. You have also made promises about my future family. Lord God, you have treated me like a very important person.

¹⁸“What more can I say to you for honoring me, your servant? You know me so well. ¹⁹Lord, you have done this wonderful thing for my sake and because you wanted to. You have made known all these great things.

²⁰“There is no one like you, Lord. There is no God except you. We have heard all this ourselves! ²¹There is no nation like your people Israel. They are the only people on earth that God chose to be his own. You made your name well known by the great and wonderful things you did for them. You went ahead of them and forced other nations out of the land. You freed your people from slavery in Egypt. ²²You made the people of Israel your very own people forever, and, Lord, you are their God.

²³“Lord, keep the promise forever that you made about my family and me, your servant. Do what you have said. ²⁴Then you will be honored always, and people will say, ‘The Lord All-Powerful, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And the family of your servant David will continue before you.

²⁵“My God, you have told me that you would make my family great. So I, your servant, am brave enough to pray to you. ²⁶Lord, you are God, and you have promised these good things to me, your servant. ²⁷You have chosen to bless my family. Let it continue before you always. Lord, you have blessed my family, so it will always be blessed.”

David Defeats Nations

18Later, David defeated the Philistines, conquered them, and took the city of Gath and the small towns around it.

²He also defeated the people of Moab. So the people of Moab became servants of David and gave him the payment he demanded.

³David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah all the way to the town of Hamath as he tried to spread his kingdom to the Euphrates River. ⁴David captured one thousand of his chariots, seven thousand men who rode in chariots, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He crippled all but a hundred of the chariot horses.

⁵Arameans from Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, but David killed twenty-two thousand of them. ⁶Then David put groups of soldiers in Damascus in Aram. The Arameans became David’s servants and gave him the payments he demanded. So the Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

⁷David took the shields of gold that had belonged to Hadadezer’s officers and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸David also took many things made of bronze from Tebah and Cun, which had been cities under Hadadezer’s control. Later, Solomon used this bronze to make things for the Temple: the large bronze bowl, which was called the Sea, the pillars, and other bronze utensils.

⁹Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah. ¹⁰So Toi sent his son Hadoram to greet and congratulate King David for defeating Hadadezer. (Hadadezer had been at war with Toi.) Hadoram brought items made of gold, silver, and bronze. ¹¹King David gave them to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had taken from these nations: Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

¹²Abishai son of Zeruiah killed eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³David put groups of soldiers in Edom, and all the Edomites became his servants. The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

David’s Important Officers

¹⁴David was king over all of Israel, and he did what was fair and right for all his people. ¹⁵Joab son of Zeruiah was commander over the army.…