1 Chronicles 16

1 So they brought in the ark of God, and placed it in the midst of the tent, which David had pitched for it, —and they brought near ascending-sacrifices 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 ascending-sacrifices, and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people, in the name of Yahweh.

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

3 And he apportioned, to every one of Israel, both man and woman, —to every one, a loaf of bread, and a sweet drink, and a raisin cake.

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

4 And he placed before the ark of Yahweh certain of the Levites, as attendants, —and to celebrate, and to give thanks and render praise, unto Yahweh, 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 instruments of harps, and with lyres, 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 On that day, then, David gave [these songs] in chief, to give thanks unto Yahweh, —through Asaph, and his brethren: —

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

8 Give ye thanks to Yahweh, Call upon his name, Make known among the peoples, his doings;

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

9 Sing ye to him, Make music unto him, Speak ye of all his wonders.

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

10 Boast yourselves in his holy name, Joyful be the heart of them who are seeking Yahweh.

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

11 Search out Yahweh, and his power, Seek diligently his face, at all times.

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

12 Remember his wonders which he hath done, His splendid deeds, and the just decisions 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, sons 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 Yahweh himself, is our God, through all the land, are his just decisions.

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

15 Remember yea to times age-abiding, his covenant, the word he hath 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 Which he solemnised with Abraham, and his oath, to Isaac;

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

17 And confirmed it, unto Jacob, for a statute, unto Israel, as a covenant age-abiding:

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

18 Saying, To thee, will I give the land of Canaan, as your inherited portion:

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

19 While, as yet, ye were men who could be counted, a very few, and sojourners therein:

[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 they wandered 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 oppress them, And reproved—for their sakes—kings!

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

22 Ye may not touch mine Anointed ones, And, to my Prophets, may ye do no wrong.

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

23 Sing to Yahweh, all the earth, Tell the tidings, from day to day, of his salvation:

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

24 Recount, among the nations, his glory, among all the peoples, his wonders.

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 Yahweh, and worthy to be mightily praised, and to be revered is he 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, Yahweh, 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 Praise and majesty, are before him, Strength and joy, are in his dwelling-place.

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

28 Give to Yahweh, ye families of the peoples, Give to Yahweh, glory and strength:

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

29 Give to Yahweh, the glory of his name, —Bring ye a present, and enter before him, Bow down to Yahweh, in the adornment 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 at his presence, all the earth, But the world, shall be established, it shall not be shaken.

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 rejoice, and the earth exult, Let them say among the nations, Yahweh, hath become king!

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 leap for joy, 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 shout in triumph, the trees of the forest, before Yahweh, for he is coming, 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 Give ye thanks unto Yahweh, For he is good, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.

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 and deliver us, from among the nations, —that we may give thanks unto thy holy name, that we may triumph aloud 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 Yahweh, God of Israel, from one age even to another age. Then said all the people, Amen, And gave praise to Yahweh.

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 Yahweh, Asaph and his brethren, —to be in attendance before the ark continually, for the duty of a day on its day;

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 his brethren, sixty-eight, —and Obed-edom son of Jedithun and Hosah to be doorkeepers;

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 habitation of Yahweh, —in the high place that was in 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 ascending-sacrifices unto Yahweh, upon the altar of ascending-sacrifice, —continually, morning and evening, —even according to all that is written in the law of Yahweh, which he commanded concerning 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 of the chosen ones, who were distinguished by name, —to give thanks unto Yahweh, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness!

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, [with] the trumpets, and the cymbals, for sounding aloud, and the instruments for the songs of God, —and the sons of Jeduthun, for 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 went round, to bless his own household.

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