1 Chronicles 16

1 And they brought in the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before God.

They brought the Sacred Chest [to Gibeon] and put it inside the Sacred Tent that David had [told his workers to] set up. Then they brought offerings to be completely burned [on the altar] and offerings to enable them to maintain fellowship [with God].

2 And when David had made an end of offering the burnt-offering and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD.

When David had finished presenting all those offerings, he [asked Yahweh to] bless the people.

3 And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a cake made in a pan, and a sweet cake.

He gave a loaf of bread, some dates, and some raisins to every Israeli man and woman [who was there].

4 And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to celebrate and to thank and praise the LORD, the God of Israel:

Then David appointed some of the descendants of Levi to stand in front of [the Sacred Tent in which] the Sacred Chest [had been placed], to lead the people who worshiped and thanked and praised Yahweh, the God of the Israeli people.

5 Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with psalteries and with harps; and Asaph with cymbals, sounding aloud;

Asaph, who played the cymbals, was their leader. Zechariah was his assistant. The other descendants of Levi [who helped Asaph] were Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel. They played lyres and harps.

6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually, before the ark of the covenant of God.

Benaiah and Jahaziel were priests who blew trumpets frequently in front of [the Sacred Tent in which was] the Sacred Chest.

7 Then on that day did David first ordain to give thanks unto the LORD, by the hand of Asaph and his brethren.

On that day, David gave to Asaph and his helpers this psalm to praise Yahweh:

8 O give thanks unto the LORD, call upon His name; make known His doings among the peoples.

Thank God, and pray to him [MTY]. Tell the people of all nations what he has done.

9 Sing unto Him, sing praises unto Him; speak ye of all His marvellous works.

Sing to him; sing songs to praise him. Tell about all his miraculous deeds.

10 Glory ye in His holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.

Be glad that you belong to him [MTY]; those who want to know Yahweh better should rejoice.

11 Seek ye the LORD and His strength; seek His face continually.

Trust in Yahweh and in his power; continually seek to get help from him.

12 Remember His marvellous works that He hath done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth;

Do not forget the wonderful things that he has done, the miracles and the just laws that he has given to us.

13 O ye seed of Israel His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen ones.

We people are the descendants of his servant Jacob; we are the people of Israel whom he has chosen.

14 He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth.

Yahweh is our God. His just/fair laws are known by people throughout the world.

15 Remember His covenant for ever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations;

He never forgets the agreement that he has made: he made a promise that will last for 1,000 generations.

16 The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac;

That is the agreement that he made with Abraham, and he repeated that agreement to Isaac.

17 And He established it unto Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant;

It was an agreement for the Israeli people, and he wanted that agreement to endure forever.

18 Saying: 'Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.'

What he said was, “I will give the Canaan region to you, to belong to you [and your descendants forever].”

19 When ye were but a few men in number, yea, very few, and sojourners in it,

[He said that to them] when there were only a few of them, a tiny group of people who were living in that land (like strangers/that belonged to other people);

20 And when they went about from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people,

they continued to wander from one place to another, from one kingdom to another.

21 He suffered no man to do them wrong, yea, for their sake He reproved kings:

But he did not allow others to oppress them, and he warned kings by saying to them,

22 'Touch not Mine anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm.'

“Do not harm the people whom I have chosen! Do not harm my prophets!”

23 Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; proclaim His salvation from day to day.

You people throughout the world, sing to Yahweh. Every day proclaim [to others] that he has saved us.

24 Declare His glory among the nations, His marvellous works among all the peoples.

Tell the people of the nations that he is great; tell all the people-groups the marvelous things [that he has done].

25 For great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods.

Yahweh is great, and he deserves to be praised very much. He should be revered more than all the gods,

26 For all the gods of the peoples are things of nought; but the LORD made the heavens.

because all the gods that the [other] people-groups [worship] are only idols, but Yahweh [is truly great; he] created the skies.

27 Honour and majesty are before Him; strength and gladness are in His place.

He is glorious and majestic; his power and joy fill his Sacred Tent.

28 Ascribe unto the LORD, ye kindreds of the peoples, ascribe unto the LORD glory and strength.

You people in nations all over the world, praise Yahweh! Praise Yahweh for his glorious power [HEN]!

29 Ascribe unto the LORD the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come before Him; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Praise Yahweh like he [MTY] deserves to be praised. Bring an offering and come to his Sacred Tent. Worship Yahweh because he is holy.

30 Tremble before Him, all the earth; the world also is established that it cannot be moved.

Everyone on the earth should tremble in front of Yahweh. He put the earth firmly [in its place]; and nothing ever will be able to move/shake it.

31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; and let them say among the nations: 'The LORD reigneth.'

Everything in the sky and on the earth should be happy. People [everywhere] should say, “Yahweh is our king!”

32 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; let the field exult, and all that is therein;

The oceans and all the creatures that are in the oceans should shout to praise him; the fields and everything that is in them should rejoice.

33 Then shall the trees of the wood sing for joy, before the LORD, for He is come to judge the earth.

When they do that, [it will be as though] the trees in the forest will sing joyfully in front of Yahweh. That will happen when he comes to judge [everyone on] [MTY] the earth.

34 O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.

Thank Yahweh, because [everything that he does is] good. He faithfully loves us forever.

35 And say ye: 'Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks unto Thy holy name, that we may triumph in Thy praise.'

Say to him, “God, you are the one who rescues us, so gather us together and save us from [the armies of] other nations. When you do that, we will thank you [MTY], and we will be happy to praise you.”

36 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting. And all the people said: 'Amen,' and praised the LORD.

Praise Yahweh, the God of us Israeli people, He has always existed, and he will exist forever. After the people [finished singing that song], they all said, “(Amen/May it be so)!”, and they praised Yahweh.

37 So he left there, before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required;

Then David left Asaph and the other members of his clan there in front of [the tent in which] Yahweh’s Sacred Chest [had been placed]. He told them that they must do their work there every day.

38 and Obed-edom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jedithun and Hosah to be door-keepers;

David also left Obed-Edom and 68 other descendants of Levi to work with them. Hosah and Obed-Edom guarded [the entrances of the Sacred Tent].

39 and Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon,

David also told Zadok the [Supreme] Priest and the other priests who worked with him to remain in front of Yahweh’s Sacred Tent, which was still at the place where the Israeli people worshiped [God there] in Gibeon [city].

40 to offer burnt-offerings unto the LORD upon the altar of burnt-offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the Law of the LORD, which He commanded unto Israel;

Every morning and every evening they burned offerings on the altar, obeying the rules/laws that had been written [by Moses], rules/laws which Yahweh had given to the Israeli people.

41 and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were mentioned by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because His mercy endureth for ever;

With them were Heman and Jeduthun and other descendants of Levi. They [MTY] were chosen to sing songs to praise Yahweh because he faithfully loves his people forever.

42 and with them Heman and Jeduthun, to sound aloud with trumpets and cymbals, and with instruments for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun to be at the gate.

Heman and Jeduthun were appointed to play the trumpets and cymbals when [the other descendants of Levi sang sacred songs]. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to guard the gates [of the Sacred Tent].

43 And all the people departed every man to his house; and David returned to bless his house.

Then all the people left. They returned to their homes, and David returned home to [ask Yahweh to] bless his family.