1 Chronicles 15

¹1 Chronicles 15:1. David constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.²1 Chronicles 15:2. Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before Him forever.”³1 Chronicles 15:3. And David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to the place he had prepared for it.⁴1 Chronicles 15:4. Then he gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:⁵1 Chronicles 15:5. From the Kohathites, Uriel the chief and 120 of his relatives;⁶1 Chronicles 15:6. from the Merarites, Asaiah the chief and 220 of his relatives;⁷1 Chronicles 15:7. from the Gershomites, Joel the chief and 130 of his relatives;⁸1 Chronicles 15:8. from the Elizaphanites, Shemaiah the chief and 200 of his relatives;⁹1 Chronicles 15:9. from the Hebronites, Eliel the chief and 80 of his relatives;¹⁰1 Chronicles 15:10. and from the Uzzielites, Amminadab the chief and 112 of his relatives.¹¹1 Chronicles 15:11. David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.¹²1 Chronicles 15:12. And he said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.¹³1 Chronicles 15:13. It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the LORD our God burst forth in anger against us. For we did not consult Him about the proper order.”¹⁴1 Chronicles 15:14. So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.¹⁵1 Chronicles 15:15. And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.¹⁶1 Chronicles 15:16. David also told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers to lift up their voices with joy, accompanied by musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals.¹⁷1 Chronicles 15:17. So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;¹⁸1 Chronicles 15:18. and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.¹⁹1 Chronicles 15:19. The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals.²⁰1 Chronicles 15:20. Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play the harps according to Alamoth.²¹1 Chronicles 15:21. And Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres according to Sheminith.²²1 Chronicles 15:22. Chenaniah the head Levite was the director of the music because he was highly skilled.²³1 Chronicles 15:23. Berechiah and Elkanah were to be guardians of the ark.²⁴1 Chronicles 15:24. Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer—the priests—were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also to be guardians of the ark.²⁵1 Chronicles 15:25. So David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went with rejoicing to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom.²⁶1 Chronicles 15:26. And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.²⁷1 Chronicles 15:27. Now David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, as well as the singers and Chenaniah, the director of music for the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.²⁸1 Chronicles 15:28. So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and with cymbals and the music of harps and lyres.²⁹1 Chronicles 15:29. As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.