David finished reporting the words of God in verse 10, so verse 11 consists of David’s own words to Solomon. Good News Translation attempts to show this by beginning with “David continued” (also God’s Word, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). It is also possible to insert “David also said” (International Children’s Bible).

Now, my son, the LORD be with you: David’s words to Solomon at this point constitute a strong desire for Yahweh’s presence in the life of his son and may be rendered “Solomon, my son, I now pray that the LORD will be with you” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

So that you may succeed in building the house of the LORD your God: So that translates the common Hebrew conjunction. Here it introduces the reason why David wants the LORD to be with Solomon; he desires it in order for Solomon to be successful in the construction of a temple to honor the LORD. This relationship should be made clear in translation because in some languages a simple “and” will be misleading. You may succeed in building renders two verbs in Hebrew: “to succeed” and “to build.” It is possible to understand the two verbs as expressing one action (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). But it is also possible to understand the two verbs as referring to two different actions. New International Version, for example, reads “may you have success and build” (similarly Nouvelle Bible Segond). If this second understanding is followed, the words “may you have success” would refer not to the building of the Temple but rather to a successful and peaceful rule (see verse 9).

As he has spoken concerning you: Various ways in which the meaning here is expressed in non-literal translations include “may he keep his promise” (Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) and “as he promised you would” (Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, 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 .