I Chronicles 15

¹And David made houses for himself in the town of David; and he got ready a place for the ark of God, and put up a tent for it.

²Then David said, The ark of God may not be moved by any but the Levites, for they have been marked out by God to take the ark of God, and to do his work for ever.

³And David made all Israel come together at Jerusalem, to take the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had got ready for it.

⁴And David got together the sons of Aaron, and the Levites;

⁵Of the sons of Kohath: Uriel the chief, and his brothers, a hundred and twenty;

⁶Of the sons of Merari: Asaiah the chief, and his brothers, two hundred and twenty;

⁷Of the sons of Gershom: Joel the chief, and his brothers, a hundred and thirty;

⁸Of the sons of Elizaphan: Shemaiah the chief, and his brothers, two hundred;

⁹Of the sons of Hebron: Eliel the chief, and his brothers, eighty;

¹⁰Of the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab the chief, and his brothers, a hundred and twelve.

¹¹And David sent for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, Uriel, Asaiah and Joel, Shemaiah and Eliel and Amminadab,

¹²And said to them, You are the heads of the families of the Levites: make yourselves holy, you and your brothers, so that you may take the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place which I have made ready for it.

¹³For because you did not take it at the first, the Lord our God sent punishment on us, because we did not get directions from him in the right way.

¹⁴So the priests and the Levites made themselves holy to take up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹⁵And the sons of the Levites took up the ark of God, lifting it by its rods, as the Lord had said to Moses.

¹⁶And David gave orders to the chief of the Levites to put their brothers the music-makers in position, with instruments of music, corded instruments and brass, with glad voices making sounds of joy.

¹⁷So Heman, the son of Joel, and, of his brothers, Asaph, the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan, the son of Kushaiah, were put in position by the Levites;

¹⁸And with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Bani and Jaaziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Unni, Eliab and Benaiah and Maaseiah and Mattithiah and Eliphelehu and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom and Jeiel, the door-keepers.

¹⁹So those who made melody, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were put in position, with brass instruments, sounding loudly;

²⁰And Zechariah and Aziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel, Unni and Eliab and Maaseiah and Benaiah, with corded instruments put to Alamoth.

²¹And Mattithiah and Eliphelehu and Mikneiah and Obed-edom and Jeiel and Azaziah, with corded instruments on the octave, to give the first note of the song.

²²And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was master of the music: he gave directions about the song, because he was expert.

²³And Berechiah and Elkanah were door-keepers for the ark.

²⁴And Shebaniah and Joshaphat and Nethanel and Amasai and Zechariah and Benaiah and Eliezer, the priests, made music on the horns before the ark of God; and Obed-edom and Jehiah were door-keepers for the ark.

²⁵So David, and the responsible men of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went with joy to get the ark of the agreement of the Lord out of the house of Obed-edom.

²⁶And when God gave help to the Levites who were lifting up the ark of the agreement of the Lord, they made an offering of seven oxen and seven sheep.

²⁷And David was clothed with a robe of fair linen, as were all the Levites who took up the ark, and those who made melody, and Chenaniah the master of those who made melody; and David had on a linen ephod;

²⁸So all Israel took up the ark of the agreement of the Lord, with loud cries and with horns and brass and corded instruments sounding loudly.

²⁹And when the ark of the agreement of the Lord came into the town of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looking out of the window, saw King David dancing and playing; and to her mind he seemed foolish.

I Chronicles 15

¹David made him houses in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.

²Then David said, "No one ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites. For the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God, and to minister to him forever."

³David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it.

⁴David gathered together the sons of Aaron, and the Levites:

⁵of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and his brothers one hundred twenty;

⁶of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred twenty;

⁷of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and his brothers one hundred thirty;

⁸of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred;

⁹of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and his brothers eighty;

¹⁰of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and his brothers one hundred twelve.

¹¹David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,

¹²and said to them, "You are the heads of the fathers' households of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, both you and your brothers, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.

¹³For because you did not carry it at first, the Lord our God made an outbreak against us, because we did not seek him according to the ordinance."

¹⁴So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹⁵The children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁶David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers, with instruments of music, stringed instruments and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy.

¹⁷So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;

¹⁸and with them their brothers of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.

¹⁹So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were given cymbals of brass to sound aloud;

²⁰and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with stringed instruments set to Alamoth;

²¹and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the eight-stringed lyre, to lead.

²²Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the song: he instructed about the song, because he was skillful.

²³Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.

²⁴Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.

²⁵So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obed-Edom with joy.

²⁶It happened, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

²⁷David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites who bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: and David had on him an ephod of linen.

²⁸Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, sounding aloud with stringed instruments and harps.

²⁹It happened, as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and she despised him in her heart.