1 Tawarikh 16:14-27

16:14 He is the Lord our God;

he carries out judgment throughout the earth. ¹ 

16:15 Remember ²  continually his covenantal decree,

the promise he made ³  to a thousand generations –

16:16 the promise ⁴  he made to Abraham,

the promise he made by oath to Isaac! ⁵ 

16:17 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,

to Israel as a lasting promise, ⁶ 

16:18 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

as the portion of your inheritance.”

16:19 When they were few in number,

just a very few, and foreign residents within it,

16:20 they wandered from nation to nation,

and from one kingdom to another. ⁷ 

16:21 He let no one oppress them,

he disciplined kings for their sake,

16:22 saying, ⁸  “Don’t touch my anointed ones!

Don’t harm my prophets!”

16:23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Announce every day ⁹  how he delivers!

16:24 Tell the nations about his splendor,

tell ¹⁰  all the nations about his miraculous deeds!

16:25 For the Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise,

he is more awesome than ¹¹  all gods.

16:26 For all the gods of the nations are worthless, ¹² 

but the Lord made the heavens. ¹³ 

16:27 Majestic splendor emanates from him, ¹⁴ 

he is the source of strength and joy. ¹⁵ 

[16:14]  ¹ tn Heb “in all the earth [are] his judgments.”

[16:15]  ² tn The Hebrew text has a masculine plural imperative, addressed to the people. Some LXX mss harmonize the wording here to Ps 105:8, which has זָכַר (zakhar), the perfect third masculine singular form of the verb, “He (the Lord) remembers” (so NIV; NEB reads “He called to mind his covenant”).

[16:15]  ³ tn Heb “[the] word he commanded.” The text refers here to God’s unconditional covenantal promise to Abraham and the patriarchs, as vv. 16-18 make clear.

[16:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “which.”

[16:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “his oath to Isaac.”

[16:17]  ⁶ tn Or “eternal covenant.”

[16:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “and from a kingdom to another nation.”

[16:22]  ⁸ tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[16:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “from day to day.”

[16:24]  ¹⁰ tn The verb “tell” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[16:25]  ¹¹ tn Or “feared above.”

[16:26]  ¹² tn The Hebrew word אֱלִילִים (’elilim, “worthless”) sounds like אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “gods”). The sound play draws attention to the statement. Many modern English translations render this term as “idols” here.

[16:26]  ¹³ tn Or “the sky” (also in v. 31). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[16:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “majesty and splendor [are] before him.”

[16:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “strength and joy [are] in his place.”