1 Crónicas 16

The ark in its tent

¹They carried the ark of God in and set it within the tent David had pitched for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ²When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing on the people in the name of the LORD. ³He also handed out food to every person in Israel, both men and women: a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins for each one.^{a 4}He appointed some of the Levites to serve before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.^b

⁵Asaph was the leader, and next to him was Zechariah. Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel played harps and lyres, and Asaph sounded the cymbals.^{c 6}The priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God. ⁷It was on that day that David first put Asaph and his fellow Levites in charge of giving thanks to the LORD:

David’s song of thanks

⁸Thank the LORD and call on his name; \q tell every people what he has done. ⁹Sing to him, play and sing his praise; \q talk of all the wonderful things he has done. ¹⁰Take pride in his holy name; \q let all who look to the LORD be glad at heart. ¹¹Turn to the LORD and to his strength; \q come into his presence again and again. ¹²Call to mind the wonders he has worked, \q his signs, and the verdicts he spoke, ¹³you descendants of his servant Israel, \q you children of Jacob, the ones he chose. ¹⁴He, the LORD, is our God; \q his rulings reach the whole earth. ¹⁵Keep his covenant in mind forever, \q the promise he laid down for a thousand generations, ¹⁶the covenant he made with Abraham, \q the oath he swore to Isaac, ¹⁷and he set it in place for Jacob as a decree, \q for Israel as a covenant that lasts forever, ¹⁸saying, “The land of Canaan I give to you, \q a share marked out for you to inherit.” ¹⁹When you were only a handful of people, \q a few outsiders living in that land, ²⁰wandering from one nation to the next, \q from one kingdom to another people, ²¹he let no one do them wrong, \q and he took kings to task over them: ²²“Do not lay a hand on my anointed ones; \q do not hurt my prophets.”

²³All the earth, sing to the LORD! \q Day after day announce the good news of how he saves. ²⁴Tell the nations of his glory, \q and all the peoples of the wonders he has done. ²⁵For the LORD is great and worthy of the highest praise; \q he must be revered above every god. ²⁶For every god the peoples serve is a mere nothing, an idol, \q but it was the LORD who made the heavens. ²⁷Splendor and majesty stand in his presence; \q strength and joy fill the place where he dwells. ²⁸Give the LORD what is due, you families of the nations; \q give the LORD glory and might. ²⁹Give the LORD the glory his name deserves; \q bring a gift and come into his presence; \q bow low before the LORD in holy splendor.^{d 30}Tremble in his presence, all the earth! \q The world stands firm; nothing can make it totter. ³¹Let the heavens be full of joy and the earth be glad; \q let it be told among the nations, “The LORD is King!” ³²Let the sea thunder with all that lives in it; \q let the fields and everything in them celebrate. ³³Then the trees of the woods will cry out with joy \q in the presence of the LORD, for he is on the way to judge the earth. ³⁴Give the LORD thanks, for he is good; \q his loyal love lasts forever. ³⁵Say also, “Rescue us, God our Savior; \q gather us and deliver us from among the nations, \q so that we may thank your holy name and make our boast in praising you.” ³⁶May the LORD, the God of Israel, be blessed from ages past to ages to come! \q Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD.

Worship before the ark and at Gibeon

³⁷So David left Asaph and his fellow Levites there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to serve before the ark regularly, as each day’s work required. ³⁸He also left Obed-Edom and their relatives, sixty-eight in all, and Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun and Hosah as gatekeepers.^{e 39}He left the priest Zadok and his fellow priests at the high place in Gibeon, before the tabernacle of the LORD, ⁴⁰to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, according to all that is written in the law of the LORD that he laid down for Israel. ⁴¹With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and named one by one to give thanks to the LORD, for his loyal love lasts forever. ⁴²Heman and Jeduthun had with them trumpets and cymbals for the players to sound, and the instruments for the song of God. The sons of Jeduthun were at the gate.^{f 43}Then all the people went home, each to their own house, and David turned back to bless his household.