1 Chronicles 16–18

Chapter 16

They brought the Ark of God and placed it inside the special tent David had prepared for it. And they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. ²When he had finished his sacrifices, David blessed the people in the name of the Lord. ³Then he gave to every man and woman in all Israel a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins.

⁴David appointed the following Levites to lead the people in worship before the Ark of the Lord—to invoke his blessings, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁵Asaph, the leader of this group, sounded the cymbals. Second to him was Zechariah, followed by Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. They played the harps and lyres. ⁶The priests, Benaiah and Jahaziel, played the trumpets regularly before the Ark of God’s Covenant.

David’s Song of Praise

⁷On that day David gave to Asaph and his fellow Levites this song of thanksgiving to the Lord:

⁸Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.

Let the whole world know what he has done.

⁹Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.

Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.

¹⁰Exult in his holy name;

rejoice, you who worship the Lord.

¹¹Search for the Lord and for his strength;

continually seek him.

¹²Remember the wonders he has performed,

his miracles, and the rulings he has given,

¹³you children of his servant Israel,

you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.

¹⁴He is the Lord our God.

His justice is seen throughout the land.

¹⁵Remember his covenant forever—

the commitment he made to a thousand generations.

¹⁶This is the covenant he made with Abraham

and the oath he swore to Isaac.

¹⁷He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,

and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant:

¹⁸“I will give you the land of Canaan

as your special possession.”

¹⁹He said this when you were few in number,

a tiny group of strangers in Canaan.

²⁰They wandered from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another.

²¹Yet he did not let anyone oppress them.

He warned kings on their behalf:

²²“Do not touch my chosen people,

and do not hurt my prophets.”

²³Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!

Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.

²⁴Publish his glorious deeds among the nations.

Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.

²⁵Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!

He is to be feared above all gods.

²⁶The gods of other nations are mere idols,

but the Lord made the heavens!

²⁷Honor and majesty surround him;

strength and joy fill his dwelling.

²⁸O nations of the world, recognize the Lord,

recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.

²⁹Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!

Bring your offering and come into his presence.

Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.

³⁰Let all the earth tremble before him.

The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.

³¹Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!

Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!”

³²Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!

Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!

³³Let the trees of the forest sing 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.

³⁵Cry out, “Save us, O God of our salvation!

Gather and rescue us from among the nations,

so we can thank your holy name

and rejoice and praise you.”

³⁶Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,

who lives from everlasting to everlasting!

And all the people shouted “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

Worship at Jerusalem and Gibeon

³⁷David arranged for Asaph and his fellow Levites to serve regularly before the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, doing whatever needed to be done each day. ³⁸This group included Obed-edom (son of Jeduthun), Hosah, and sixty-eight other Levites as gatekeepers.

³⁹Meanwhile, David stationed Zadok the priest and his fellow priests at the Tabernacle of the Lord at the place of worship in Gibeon, where they continued to minister before the Lord. ⁴⁰They sacrificed the regular burnt offerings to the Lord each morning and evening on the altar set aside for that purpose, obeying everything written in the Law of the Lord, as he had commanded Israel. ⁴¹David also appointed Heman, Jeduthun, and the others chosen by name to give thanks to the Lord, for “his faithful love endures forever.” ⁴²They used their trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments to accompany their songs of praise to God. And the sons of Jeduthun were appointed as gatekeepers.

⁴³Then all the people returned to their homes, and David turned and went home to bless his own family.

Chapter 17

The Lord’s Covenant Promise to David

When David was settled in his palace, he summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant is out there under a tent!”

²Nathan replied to David, “Do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you.”

³But that same night God said to Nathan,

⁴“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord has declared: You are not the one to build a house for me to live in. ⁵I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. My home has always been a tent, moving from one place to another in a Tabernacle. ⁶Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel’s leaders, the shepherds of my people. I have never asked them, “Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?” ’

⁷“Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel. ⁸I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth! ⁹And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past, ¹⁰starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will defeat all your enemies.

“ ‘Furthermore, I declare that the Lord will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings! ¹¹For when you die and join your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong. ¹²He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for me. And I will secure his throne forever. ¹³I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my favor from him as I took it from the one who ruled before you. ¹⁴I will confirm him as king over my house and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.’ ”

¹⁵So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the Lord had said in this vision.

David’s Prayer of Thanks

¹⁶Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed,

“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁷And now, O God, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! You speak as though I were someone very great, O Lord God!

¹⁸“What more can I say to you about the way you have honored me? You know what your servant is really like. ¹⁹For the sake of your servant, O Lord, and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known.

²⁰“O Lord, there is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! ²¹What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations that stood in their way. ²²You chose Israel to be your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.

²³“And now, O Lord, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. May it be a promise that will last forever. ²⁴And may your name be established and honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.

²⁵“O my God, I have been bold enough to pray to you because you have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him—a dynasty of kings! ²⁶For you are God, O Lord. And you have promised these good things to your servant. ²⁷And now, it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, so that it will continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing, O Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”

Chapter 18

David’s Military Victories

After this, David defeated and subdued the Philistines by conquering Gath and its surrounding towns. ²David also conquered the land of Moab, and the Moabites who were spared became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money.

³David also destroyed the forces of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, as far as Hamath, when Hadadezer marched out to strengthen his control along the Euphrates River. ⁴David captured 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers, and 20,000 foot soldiers. He crippled all the chariot horses except enough for 100 chariots.

⁵When Arameans from Damascus arrived to help King Hadadezer, David killed 22,000 of them. ⁶Then he placed several army garrisons in Damascus, the Aramean capital, and the Arameans became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money. So the Lord made David victorious wherever he went.

⁷David brought the gold shields of Hadadezer’s officers to Jerusalem, ⁸along with a large amount of bronze from Hadadezer’s towns of Tebah and Cun. Later Solomon melted the bronze and molded it into the great bronze basin called the Sea, the pillars, and the various bronze articles used at the Temple.

⁹When King Toi of Hamath heard that David had destroyed the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, ¹⁰he sent his son Joram to congratulate King David for his successful campaign. Hadadezer and Toi…