1 Chronicles 16

1 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].

Then they took in the ark of God and put it inside the tent which David had put up for it; and they made offerings, burned offerings and peace-offerings before God.

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

And when David had come to an end of making the burned offerings and peace-offerings, he gave the people a blessing in the name of the Lord.

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

And he gave to everyone, every man and woman of Israel, a cake of bread, some meat, and a cake of dry grapes.

4 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.

And he put some of the Levites before the ark of the Lord as servants, to keep the acts of the Lord in memory, and to give worship and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel:

5 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.

Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Uzziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Mattithiah and Eliab and Benaiah and Obed-edom and Jeiel, with corded instruments of music; and Asaph, with brass instruments sounding loudly;

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

And Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests, blowing horns all the time before the ark of the agreement of God.

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

Then on that day David first made the giving of praise to the Lord the work of Asaph and his brothers.

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

O give praise to the Lord; give honour to his name, talking of his doings among the peoples.

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

Let your voice be sounded in songs and melody; let all your thoughts be of the wonder of his works.

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

Have glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who are searching after the Lord be glad.

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

Let your search be for the Lord and for his strength; let your hearts ever be turned to him.

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

Keep in mind the great works which he has done; his wonders, and the decisions of his mouth;

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

O you seed of Israel his servant, you children of Jacob, his loved ones.

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

He is the Lord our God: he is judge of all the earth.

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

He has kept his agreement in mind for ever, the word which he gave for a thousand generations;

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

The agreement which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac;

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

And he gave it to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an eternal agreement;

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

Saying, To you will I give the land of Canaan, the measured line of your heritage:

19 [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);

When you were still small in number, and strange in the land;

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

When they went about from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people;

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

He would not let anyone do them wrong; he even kept back kings because of them,

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

Saying, Put not your hand on those who have been marked with my holy oil, and do my prophets no wrong.

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

Make songs to the Lord, all the earth; give the good news of his salvation day by day.

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

Make clear his glory to the nations, and his wonders to all the peoples.

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

For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; and he is more to be feared than all other gods.

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

For all the gods of the nations are false gods; but the Lord made the heavens.

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

Honour and glory are before him: strength and joy are in his holy place.

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

Give to the Lord, O you families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength.

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

Give to the Lord the glory of his name; take with you an offering and come before him; give worship to the Lord in holy robes.

30 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.

Be in fear before him, all the earth: the world is ordered so that it may not be moved.

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

Let the heavens have joy and let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, The Lord is King.

32 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.

Let the sea be thundering with all its waters; let the field be glad, and everything which is in it;

33 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.

Then let all the trees of the wood be sounding with joy before the Lord, for he is come to be the judge of the earth.

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

O give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy is unchanging for ever.

35 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.”

And say, Be our saviour, O God of our salvation, and let us come back, and give us salvation from the nations, so that we may give honour to your holy name and have glory in your praise.

36 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.

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for ever and for ever. And all the people said, So be it; and gave praise to the Lord.

37 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.

So he made Asaph and his brothers keep their places there before the ark of the agreement of the Lord, to do whatever had to be done before the ark at all times day by day:

38 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].

And Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, with their brothers, sixty-eight of them, to be door-keepers:

39 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].

And Zadok the priest, with his brothers the priests, before the House of the Lord in the high place at Gibeon;

40 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.

To give burned offerings to the Lord on the altar of burned offerings morning and evening, every day, as it is ordered in the law of the Lord which he gave to Israel;

41 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.

And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were marked out by name to give praise to the Lord, for his mercy is unchanging for ever;

42 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].

And Heman and Jeduthun had horns and brass instruments sounding loudly, and instruments of music for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun were to be at the door.

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

And all the people went away, every man to his house; and David went back to give a blessing to his family.