1 Chronicles 15

1 And 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.

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.

2 Then 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.

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.”

3 And 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.

And David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to the place he had prepared for it.

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

Then he gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:

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

From the Kohathites, Uriel the chief and 120 of his relatives;

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

from the Merarites, Asaiah the chief and 220 of his relatives;

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

from the Gershomites, Joel the chief and 130 of his relatives;

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

from the Elizaphanites, Shemaiah the chief and 200 of his relatives;

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

from the Hebronites, Eliel the chief and 80 of his relatives;

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

and from the Uzzielites, Amminadab the chief and 112 of his relatives.

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

David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.

12 And 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.

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.

13 For 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.

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.”

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

So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.

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

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.

16 And 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.

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.

17 So 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;

So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;

18 And 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.

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.

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

The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals.

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

Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play the harps according to Alamoth.

21 And 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.

And Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres according to Sheminith.

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

Chenaniah the head Levite was the director of the music because he was highly skilled.

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

Berechiah and Elkanah were to be guardians of the ark.

24 And 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.

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.

25 So 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.

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.

26 And 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.

And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

27 And 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;

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.

28 So 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.

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.

29 And 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.

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.