Take heed now, for … is literally “See now that….” New Living Translation says “So take this seriously….” Other renderings are “You must realize that…” (Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje) and “Solomon, you must understand this…” (New Century Version). In certain languages this idea may be better expressed negatively by saying “Never forget that…” or “Don’t neglect the fact that….”
A house for the sanctuary: For sanctuary see the comments on 1 Chr 22.19. For this whole phrase New International Version has “a temple as a sanctuary.” Other renderings include “a building that will serve as a sanctuary” (La Bible du Semeur) and “a building that will be his sanctuary” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). As Biblia Dios Habla Hoy makes explicit by adding the pronoun “his” (also Good News Translation, Nueva Versión Internacional, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), this is God’s Temple. The Septuagint adds the words “for him.” Some interpreters follow the Septuagint here, thinking that a scribe accidentally omitted “for him” from the Hebrew text (so Klein with “a house for him as a sanctuary”). But regardless of whether translators follow the Masoretic Text or the Septuagint here, the words “his” or “for him” may be added for reasons of translation.
The idea of a sanctuary may be difficult to express in some languages. A sanctuary is sometimes understood in modern English as a place of refuge or protection. But in the present context it is a holy place, one that is set apart for God. So some translators may say “a house that is a special place for the LORD” or “a building set aside for God.”
Be strong and do it: These words recall what Moses said to Joshua (Josh 1.6). They are repeated in verse 20. For be strong, see the comments on 1 Chr 22.13. There is no pronoun corresponding to it in the Hebrew, so a more literal translation is “be firm and act” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). In some languages the verb do may be rendered “set to work” (New American Bible) or “get to work” (Bible en français courant).
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 .