And they brought the Ark of God and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it. And they offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

And when David finished offering up the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah.

And he apportioned to everyone of Israel, to both men and women, to each one, a cake of bread and a  ¹portion of meat and a cake of raisins.

And he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the Ark of Jehovah and to commemorate and thank and praise Jehovah the God of Israel:

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 harps and with lyres; and Asaph sounding aloud with cymbals;

And Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually before the Ark of the Covenant of God.

On that day, at that time, David first ordained the giving of thanks to Jehovah by the hand of Asaph and his brothers.

Give thanks to Jehovah; call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.

Sing to Him; sing psalms to Him;
Muse upon all His wondrous deeds.

Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek Jehovah rejoice.

Seek Jehovah and His strength;
Seek His face continually.

Remember His wondrous deeds, which He has done,
His signs and the judgments of His mouth,

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

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

Remember His covenant forever,
The word that He commanded to a thousand generations,

The covenant that He made with Abraham,
And His oath unto Isaac.

And He confirmed it unto Jacob as a statute,
Unto Israel as an eternal covenant,

Saying, To you I will give the land of Canaan,
The portion of your inheritance;

When you were men few in number,
Indeed very few and strangers in  ¹the land;

And they went about from nation to nation,
And from one kingdom to another people.

He allowed no man to oppress them;
Indeed He rebuked kings for their sake.

Saying, Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.

Sing to Jehovah all the earth;
Proclaim His salvation from day to day.

Declare His glory among the nations,
His wondrous deeds among all the peoples.

For Jehovah is great and much to be praised,
And He is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But Jehovah made the heavens.

Majesty and splendor are before Him;
Strength and gladness are in His place.

Ascribe to Jehovah, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to Jehovah, glory and strength;

Ascribe to Jehovah the glory of His name;
Bring an offering, and come before Him.
Worship Jehovah in holy splendor;

Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Indeed the world has been established; it will not be moved;

Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad;
And let them say among the nations, Jehovah reigns!

Let the sea and its fullness roar;
Let the field and all that is in it exult;

Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy
Before Jehovah, for He is coming
To judge the earth.

Give thanks to Jehovah, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is forever;

And say, Save us, O God of our salvation;
And gather us and deliver us out of the nations,
That we may give thanks to Your holy name,
That we may glory in Your praise.

Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel,
From eternity to eternity.
And all the people said, Amen, and praised Jehovah.

So there before the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah he left Asaph and his brothers to minister before the Ark continually, as every day's work dictated;

As well as Obed-edom and his sixty-eight  ¹relatives, with Obed-edom the son of Jeduthun and Hosah as gatekeepers;

And Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the  ¹tabernacle of Jehovah in the high place which was at Gibeon,

To offer up burnt offerings to Jehovah upon the burnt offering altar continually every morning and every evening, according to all that was written in the law of Jehovah, which He commanded Israel.

And with them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those who had been chosen, who had been mentioned by name, to give thanks to Jehovah, for His lovingkindness endures forever.

And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who were to sound aloud and with instruments for the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun were to be at the gate.

And all the people, each one, departed to his house; and David returned to bless his house.

 ¹And as David dwelt in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah dwells under curtains.

And Nathan said to David, All that is in your heart do, for God is with you.

And in that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

Go and say to David My servant, Thus says Jehovah, It will not be you who builds Me a house to dwell in.

For I have not dwelt in a house, since the day I brought up Israel to this day; but I have been from tent to tent and from tabernacle to tabernacle.

In all My going about among all Israel, did I ever speak a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?

And now thus shall you say to My servant David, Thus says Jehovah of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you might be ruler over My people Israel;

And I have been with you in every place that you have gone and have cut off all your enemies before you; and I will make a name for you, like the name of the great ones who are on the earth.

And I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them there, that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more; and the sons of wickedness will waste them away no more as before,

Even since the time when I commanded that there be judges over My people Israel; and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I declare to you that Jehovah will build you a house.

When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, which will be from your sons, and I will establish his kingdom.

It is he who will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever.

I will be his Father, and he will be My son; and My lovingkindness I will not take from him, as I took it away from him who was before you.

And I will set him in My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.

According to all these words and according to this whole vision did Nathan speak to David.

Then King David went and sat before Jehovah; and he said, Who am I, O Jehovah God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far?

And this was a small thing in Your sight, O God; but You have spoken of the house of Your servant for a great while to come; and You have regarded me according to the custom for a man of high degree, O Jehovah God.

What more can David add to say to You concerning this honoring of Your servant? For You know Your servant.

O Jehovah, for Your servant's sake and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to make known all these great things.

O Jehovah, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

And who is like Your people Israel, a nation unique on the earth, which God went to redeem to Himself as a people in order to make for Yourself a name of greatness and awesomeness to drive out nations from before Your people, whom You have redeemed out of Egypt?

And You have made Your people Israel to be a people to You forever, and You, O Jehovah, became their God.

And now, O Jehovah, may the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as You have spoken.

And may Your name be established and magnified forever when men say, Jehovah of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel; and the house of David Your servant will be established before You.

For You, O my God, have revealed to Your servant, that You will build him a house; therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray before You.

And now, O Jehovah, You are God, and You have spoken this good matter concerning Your servant;

Now therefore You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may be before You forever; for You, O Jehovah, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.

And after this David struck the Philistines and subdued them. And David took Gath and her villages out of the hand of the Philistines.

And he struck Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

Then David struck Hadadezer the king of Zobah at Hamath, when he went to establish his power at the river Euphrates.

And David took from him one thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough of them for a hundred chariots.

And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer the king of Zobah, David struck twenty-two thousand men among the Syrians.

And David put garrisons among the Syrians of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And Jehovah preserved David wherever he went.

And David took the  ¹shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.

And from Tibhath and Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took very much bronze, with which Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.

Then when Tou the king of Hamath heard that David had struck down all the army of Hadadezer the king of Zobah,

He sent Hadoram his son to King David to greet him and congratulate him for fighting against Hadadezer and striking him down, for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and of silver and of bronze.

King David consecrated these also to Jehovah along with the silver and gold that he had carried from all the nations: from the Edomites and from the Moabites and from the children of Ammon and from the Philistines and from the Amalekites.

Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah struck down the Edomites in the Valley of Salt, that is, eighteen thousand men.

And he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And Jehovah preserved David wherever he went.

So David reigned over all Israel and executed justice and righteousness for all his people.

And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder.

And Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was scribe.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were chief at the king's side.