Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel: The passive expression Blessed be has the force of the imperative “Bless.” When God is the object of this verb, it means “to praise” and should be so translated in many languages.

From everlasting to everlasting: The Hebrew words here refer respectively to time long ago in the prehistoric past and time in the far distant future. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “from eternity to eternity.”

Then all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the LORD: Here the people of Israel respond to the song of praise in verses 8-36a. Amen is a word that has been borrowed by many languages, usually with the meaning “that is the end of the prayer.” The Hebrew word for Amen means “So be it” or “It shall be so.” It is a strong affirmation, expressing approval of and agreement with what has been said. If a translation is to be fully meaningful, the significance even of such terms as Amen should be communicated. In some languages it is best to avoid the borrowed form and introduce something equivalent to “We agree!” ( NET Bible), “This is certainly true,” or “Indeed this is true.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .