1 Chronicles 16–18

16The ark of God was brought into Jerusalem. It was put in the tent David had set up for it. The priests brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings to God.

²After David finished sacrificing those offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. ³He gave to each Israelite man and woman a loaf of bread. He also gave each one a date cake and a raisin cake.

⁴He appointed some of the Levites to serve in front of the ark of the Lord. David wanted them to pray, give thanks and praise the Lord. He is the God of Israel. ⁵Asaph was the leader of those Levites. Zechariah was next. Then came Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They played the lyres and harps. Asaph played the cymbals. ⁶The priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew the trumpets. They blew them at regular times in front of the ark of the covenant of God.

David’s Psalm of Thanks to the Lord

⁷That day was the first time David gave Asaph and his helpers this psalm of thanks to the Lord.

⁸Give thanks to the Lord. Worship him.

Tell the nations what he has done.

⁹Sing to him. Sing praise to him.

Tell about all of the wonderful things he has done.

¹⁰Praise him, because his name is holy.

Let the hearts of those who trust in the Lord be glad.

¹¹Look to the Lord and to his strength.

Always look to him.

¹²Remember the wonderful things he has done.

Remember his miracles and how he judged our enemies.

¹³Remember what he has done, you children of his servant Israel.

Remember it, you people of Jacob. You are God’s chosen ones.

¹⁴He is the Lord our God.

He judges the whole earth.

¹⁵He will keep his covenant forever.

He will keep his promise for all time to come.

¹⁶He will keep the covenant he made with Abraham.

He will keep the oath he took when he made his promise to Isaac.

¹⁷He made it stand as a law for Jacob.

He made it stand as a covenant for Israel. It will last forever.

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

It will belong to you.”

¹⁹At first there weren’t very many of God’s people.

There were only a few. And they were strangers in the land.

²⁰They wandered from nation to nation.

They wandered from one kingdom to another.

²¹But God didn’t allow anyone to beat them down.

To keep them safe, he gave a command to kings.

²²He said to them, “Do not touch my anointed ones.

Do not harm my prophets.”

²³All you people of the earth, sing to the Lord.

Day after day tell about how he saves us.

²⁴Tell the nations about his glory.

Tell all people about the wonderful things he has done.

²⁵The Lord is great. He is really worthy of praise.

People should have respect for him as the greatest God of all.

²⁶All of the gods of the nations are like their statues.

They can’t do anything.

But the Lord made the heavens.

²⁷Glory and majesty are all around him.

Strength and joy can be seen in the place where he lives.

²⁸Praise the Lord, all you nations.

Praise the Lord for his glory and strength.

²⁹Praise the Lord for the glory that belongs to him.

Bring an offering and come to him.

Worship the Lord because of his beauty and holiness.

³⁰All you people of the earth, tremble when you are with him.

The world is firmly set in place. It can’t be moved.

³¹Let the heavens be filled with joy. Let the earth be glad.

Let them say among the nations, “The Lord rules!”

³²Let the ocean and everything in it roar.

Let the fields and everything in them be glad.

³³Then the trees in the forest will sing with joy.

They will sing to the Lord.

He will judge the people of the world.

³⁴Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.

His faithful love continues forever.

³⁵Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior.

Save us. Bring us back from among the nations.

Then we will give thanks to you, because your name is holy.

We will celebrate by praising you.”

³⁶Give praise to the Lord, the God of Israel,

for ever and ever.

Then all of the people said, “Amen!” They also said, “Praise the Lord.”

³⁷David left Asaph and his helpers to serve in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. They served there at regular times. They did it as they were required to do each day. ³⁸David also left Obed-Edom and his 68 helpers to serve with them. Obed-Edom and Hosah guarded the gates. Obed-Edom was the son of Jeduthun.

³⁹David left the priest Zadok and some other priests in front of the holy tent of the Lord. It was at the high place in Gibeon. ⁴⁰David left them there to sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar every morning and evening. They did it in keeping with everything that is written in the Law of the Lord. That’s the Law he had given to Israel.

⁴¹Heman and Jeduthun were with the priests. So were the rest of those who had been chosen by name and appointed to serve. They had been chosen to give thanks to the Lord, “because his faithful love continues forever.” ⁴²It was the duty of Heman and Jeduthun to blow the trumpets. They also had the duty of playing the cymbals and other instruments for the sacred songs. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at one of the gates.

⁴³All of the people left. Everyone went home. And David returned home to bless his family.

God Makes a Promise to David

17David settled down in his palace. Then he spoke to the prophet Nathan. He said, “Here I am, living in a palace that has beautiful cedar walls. But the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”

²Nathan replied to David, “Do what you want to. God is with you.”

³That night a message came to Nathan from God. He said,

⁴“Go and speak to my servant David. Tell him, ‘The Lord says, “You are not the one who will build me a house to live in. ⁵I have not lived in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt until now. I have moved my tent from one place to another. I have moved my home from one place to another. ⁶I have moved from place to place with all of the people of Israel. I commanded their leaders to be shepherds over them. I never asked any of those leaders, ‘Why haven’t you built me a house that has beautiful cedar walls?’ ” ’

⁷“So tell my servant David, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “I took you away from the grasslands. That is where you were taking care of your father’s sheep and goats. I made you ruler over my people Israel. ⁸I have been with you everywhere you have gone. I cut off all of your enemies when you were attacking them. Now I will make you famous. Your name will be just as respected as the names of the most important people on earth.

⁹“ ‘ “I will provide a place where my people Israel can live. I will plant them in the land. Then they will have a home of their own. They will not be bothered anymore. Sinful people will no longer crush them, as they did at first. ¹⁰That is what your enemies have done ever since I appointed leaders over my people Israel. But I will bring all of them under your control.

“ ‘ “I tell you that I will build a royal house for your family. ¹¹Some day your life will come to an end. You will join the members of your family who have already died. Then I will give you one of your own sons to become the next king after you. I will make his kingdom secure.

¹²“ ‘ “He is the one who will build me a house. I will set up his throne. It will last forever. ¹³I will be his father. And he will be my son. I took my love away from the man who ruled before you. But I will never take my love away from your son. ¹⁴I will place him over my house and my kingdom forever. His throne will last forever.” ’ ”

¹⁵Nathan reported to David all of the words that the Lord had spoken to him.

David Prays to the Lord

¹⁶Then King David went into the holy tent. He sat down in front of the Lord. He said,

“Lord God, who am I? My family isn’t important. So why have you brought me this far? ¹⁷I would have thought that you had already done more than enough for me. But now, God, you have spoken about what is going to happen to my royal house in days to come. Lord God, you have treated me as if I were the most honored man of all.

¹⁸“What more can I say to you for honoring me? You know all about me. ¹⁹Lord, you have done a wonderful thing. You have given me many great promises. All of them are for my good. They are exactly what you wanted to give me.

²⁰“Lord, there isn’t anyone like you. There isn’t any God but you. We have heard about it with our own ears.

²¹“Who is like your people Israel? God, we are the one nation on earth you have saved. You have set us free for yourself. Your name has become famous. You have done great and wonderful things. You have driven nations out to make room for your people. You saved us when you set us free from Egypt. No other god has done any of those things for its people. ²²You made Israel your very own people forever. Lord, you have become our God.

²³“And now, Lord, let the promise you have made to me and my royal house stand forever. Do exactly as you promised. ²⁴When your promise comes true, your name will be honored forever. People will say, ‘The Lord rules over all. He is the God over Israel. He is Israel’s God.’ My royal house will be made secure in your sight.

²⁵“My God, you have shown me that you will build me a royal house. So I can pray to you boldly. ²⁶Lord, you are God! You have promised many good things to me. ²⁷You have been pleased to bless my royal house. Now it will continue forever in your sight. Lord, you have blessed it. And it will be blessed forever.”

David Wins Many Battles

18While David was king of Israel, he won many battles over the Philistines. He brought them under his control. He took Gath away from the Philistines. He also captured the villages that were around Gath.

²David also won the battle over the people of Moab. They were brought under his rule. They gave him the gifts he required them to bring him.

³David fought against Hadadezer all the way to Hamath. Hadadezer was king of Zobah. He had gone to take complete control of the land along the Euphrates River. ⁴David captured 1,000 of Hadadezer’s chariots, 7,000 chariot riders and 20,000 soldiers on foot. He cut the legs of all but 100 of the chariot horses.

⁵The…