1 Chronicles 16

Ministering Before the Ark

16:8–22pp—Ps 105:1–15 16:23–33pp—Ps 96:1–13 16:34–36pp—Ps 106:1,47–48

16They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched^d for it, and they presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God. ²After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed^e the people in the name of the Lord. ³Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins^f to each Israelite man and woman.

⁴He appointed some of the Levites to minister^g before the ark of the Lord, to extol,^a thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel: ⁵Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel,^b Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, ⁶and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise^h to the Lord in this manner:

⁸Give praiseⁱ to the Lord, proclaim his name;

make known among the nations^j what he has done.

⁹Sing to him, sing praise^k to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

¹⁰Glory in his holy name;^l

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

¹¹Look to the Lord and his strength;

seek^m his face always.

¹²Rememberⁿ the wonders^o he has done,

his miracles,^p and the judgments he pronounced,

¹³you his servants, the descendants of Israel,

his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

¹⁴He is the Lord our God;

his judgments^q are in all the earth.

¹⁵He remembers^cr his covenant forever,

the promise he made, for a thousand generations,

¹⁶the covenant^s he made with Abraham,

the oath he swore to Isaac.

¹⁷He confirmed it to Jacob^t as a decree,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

¹⁸“To you I will give the land of Canaan^u

as the portion you will inherit.”

¹⁹When they were but few in number,^v

few indeed, and strangers in it,

²⁰they^d wandered^w from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another.

²¹He allowed no one to oppress them;

for their sake he rebuked kings:^x

²²“Do not touch my anointed ones;

do my prophets^y no harm.”

²³Sing to the Lord, all the earth;

proclaim his salvation day after day.

²⁴Declare his glory^z among the nations,

his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

²⁵For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;^a

he is to be feared^b above all gods.^c

²⁶For all the gods of the nations are idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.^d

²⁷Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

²⁸Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.^e

²⁹Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;^f

bring an offering and come before him.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his^e holiness.^g

³⁰Tremble^h before him, all the earth!

The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.ⁱ

³¹Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;^j

let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!^k”

³²Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;^l

let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!

³³Let the trees^m of the forest sing,

let them sing for joy before the Lord,

for he comes to judgeⁿ the earth.

³⁴Give thanks^o to the Lord, for he is good;^p

his love endures forever.^q

³⁵Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior;^r

gather us and deliver us from the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name,

and glory in your praise.”

³⁶Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,^s

from everlasting to everlasting.

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

³⁷David left Asaph and his associates before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister there regularly, according to each day’s requirements.^{t 38}He also left Obed-Edom^u and his sixty-eight associates to minister with them. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun, and also Hosah,^v were gatekeepers.

³⁹David left Zadok^w the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon^{x 40}to present burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, in accordance with everything written in the Law^y of the Lord, which he had given Israel. ⁴¹With them were Heman^z and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, “for his love endures forever.” ⁴²Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song.^a The sons of Jeduthun^b were stationed at the gate.

⁴³Then all the people left, each for their own home, and David returned home to bless his family.