11 Preface أَنِ اعمَل سابِغاتٍ وَقَدِّر فِي السَّردِ ۖ وَاعمَلوا صالِحًا ۖ إِنّي بِما تَعمَلونَ بَصيرٌYusuf Ali(Commanding), “Make thou coast of mail, balancing well1 the rings of chain armour, and work ye righteousness;2 for be sure I see (clearly) all that ye do.”Coats of chain armour have to be made with cunning art, if the chains are to fit into each other and the whole garment is to be worn in comfort in fierce warfare.Note the transition from the singular, “make them coats of mail”, to the plural “and work ye righteousness”. The first is addressed to David, who was the artificer of defensive armour: and the second is addressed to him and his whole people. He made the armour, but it was to be worn not only by him but all the warriors. But he and his people were to be careful to see that they did not deviate from the paths of righteousness. Fighting is a dangerous weapon and may well degenerate (as it so often does) into mere violence. They were to see that this should not happen, and they were told that God was watching over them all with personal solicitude implied in the singular pronoun “I”.