That day Moses made this solemn promise:<n id="1" /> &#8216;Surely the land on which you walked<n id="2" /> will belong to you and your descendants permanently,<n id="3" /> for you remained loyal to the <sc>Lordsc> your God.&#8217;

Joshua told all the people, &#8220;Here is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says: &#8216;In the distant past your ancestors<n id="1" /> lived beyond the Euphrates River,<n id="2" /> including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped<n id="3" /> other gods,

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s angelic messenger<n id="1" /> went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, &#8220;I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors.<n id="2" /> I said, &#8216;I will never break my agreement<n id="3" /> with you,

<p class="bodytext">Therefore the <sc>Lordsc>, the God of Israel, says, &#8216;I really did say<n id="1" /> that your house and your ancestor&#8217;s house would serve<n id="2" /> me forever.&#8217; But now the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;May it never be!<n id="3" /> For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed!

You<n id="1" /> should tell him that I am about to judge his house forever because of<n id="2" /> the sin that he knew about. For his sons were cursing God,<n id="3" /> and he did not rebuke them.

<p class="bodytext">Then Samuel said to Saul, &#8220;You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed<n id="1" /> the commandment that the <sc>Lordsc> your God gave<n id="2" /> you. Had you done that, the <sc>Lordsc> would have established your kingdom over Israel forever!

Jonathan said to David, &#8220;Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn together in the name of the <sc>Lordsc> saying, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.&#8217;&#8221;p><t /><v id="(21:1)" /><n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">Then David<n id="2" /> got up and left, while Jonathan went back to the city.

<p class="bodytext">Then David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They had been living in that land for a long time, from the approach<n id="1" /> to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.)

<p class="poetry">My dynasty is approved by God,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">for he has made a perpetual covenant with me,p> <p class="poetry">arranged in all its particulars and secured.p> <p class="poetry">He always delivers me,p> <p class="poetry">and brings all I desire to fruition.<n id="2" />p>

The <sc>Lordsc> said to him, &#8220;I have answered<n id="1" /> your prayer and your request for help that you made to me. I have consecrated this temple you built by making it my permanent home;<n id="2" /> I will be constantly present there.<n id="3" />

Then I will allow your dynasty to rule over Israel permanently,<n id="1" /> just as I promised your father David, &#8216;You will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.&#8217;<n id="2" />p>

May the <sc>Lordsc> your God be praised because he favored<n id="1" /> you by placing you on the throne of Israel! Because of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s eternal love for Israel, he made you king so you could make just and right decisions.&#8221;<n id="2" />

He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the <sc>Lordsc> had said to David and to his son Solomon, &#8220;This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.<n id="1" />

Then David said, &#8220;Only the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the <sc>Lordsc> chose them to carry the ark of the <sc>Lordsc> and to serve before him perpetually.

The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel chose me out of my father&#8217;s entire family to become king over Israel and have a permanent dynasty.<n id="1" /> Indeed,<n id="2" /> he chose Judah as leader, and my father&#8217;s family within Judah, and then he picked me out from among my father&#8217;s sons and made me king over all Israel.<n id="3" />

So now, in the sight of all Israel, the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s assembly, and in the hearing of our God, I say this:<n id="1" /> Carefully observe<n id="2" /> all the commands of the <sc>Lordsc> your God, so that you may possess this good land and may leave it as a permanent inheritance for your children after you.p>

Look, I am ready to build a temple to honor<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> my God and to dedicate it to him in order to burn fragrant incense before him, to set out the bread that is regularly displayed,<n id="2" /> and to offer burnt sacrifices each morning and evening, and on Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and at other times appointed by the <sc>Lordsc> our God. This is something Israel must do on a permanent basis.<n id="3" />

The trumpeters and musicians played together, praising and giving thanks to the <sc>Lordsc>. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they loudly praised the <sc>Lordsc>, singing:<n id="1" /> &#8220;Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!&#8221; Then a cloud filled the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.<n id="2" />

When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the <sc>Lordsc>, saying,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!&#8221;p>

The priests stood in their assigned spots, along with the Levites who had the musical instruments used for praising the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" /> (These were the ones King David made for giving thanks to the <sc>Lordsc> and which were used by David when he offered praise, saying, &#8220;Certainly his loyal love endures.&#8221;)<n id="2" /> Opposite the Levites,<n id="3" /> the priests were blowing the trumpets, while all Israel stood there.