1 Chronicles 16:15-19

16:15 Remember ¹  continually his covenantal decree,

the promise he made ²  to a thousand generations –

16:16 the promise ³  he made to Abraham,

the promise he made by oath to Isaac! ⁴ 

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

to Israel as a lasting promise, ⁵ 

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,

[16:15]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “which.”

[16:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “his oath to Isaac.”

[16:17]  ⁵ tn Or “eternal covenant.”