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 [commanded his workers to] build some houses for him in Jerusalem. He also told them to set up a tent in which to put the Sacred Chest.

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.

He said, “Only the descendants of Levi are permitted to carry God’s Sacred Chest, because they are the ones whom God chose to carry it and to serve 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.

David summoned all the people of Israel to come to Jerusalem. He wanted the Sacred Chest of Yahweh to be put in the place that he had made for it.

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

He summoned the descendants of Aaron, [who was the first Supreme Priest, ] and the other descendants of Levi.

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

120 descendants of Kohath, who was Levi’s second son, came, with Uriel their leader.

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

There were 220 descendants of Merari, Levi’s third son, who came, with Asaiah their leader.

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

There were 130 descendants of Gershon, Levi’s first son, who came, with Joel their leader.

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

There were 200 people from Elizaphan’s clan who came, with Shemaiah their leader.

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

There were 80 people from Hebron’s clan who came, with Eliel their leader.

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

And there were 112 people from Uzziel’s clan who came, with Amminadab their leader.

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 these [other] descendants of Levi: 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.

David said to them, “You are the leaders of the clans descended from Levi. You and the other descendants of Levi must purify yourselves, in order to [be able to do this special work for Yahweh. You must] bring the Sacred Chest of Yahweh, the God of us Israelis, up to the place that I have made for it [here in Jerusalem].

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.

The first time that we tried to bring it, we did not ask Yahweh how we should carry it {it should be carried}. You [descendants of Levi] were not the ones who carried it, so Yahweh our God punished us.”

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

Then the priests and the [other] descendants of Levi [performed the rituals to] purify themselves, in order that it would be proper for them to do the work of carrying the Sacred Chest of Yahweh, the God of us Israeli people.

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.

The descendants of Levi [inserted] the poles [into the rings on] the Sacred Chest so that with them, they could carry the Sacred Chest on their shoulders, like Moses had commanded, and like Yahweh had said that they should.

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 told the leaders of the descendants of Levi to appoint some of their relatives to sing joyful songs and play lyres, harps, and cymbals [while they were carrying the Sacred Chest].

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 they appointed Heman and his relatives Asaph and Ethan. Heman was the son of Joel; Asaph was the son of Berekiah. Ethan, a descendant of Merari, was Kushaiah’s son.

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.

There was also another group of descendants of Levi who were appointed: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and two of the Sacred Tent gatekeepers, Obed-Edom and Jeiel.

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

Heman, Asaph and Ethan sang, and also played 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 played lyres.

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.

Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah played harps.

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

Kenaniah, the leader of the descendants of Levi, directed the singing because he was very skilled at doing that.

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

Berekiah and Elkanah were two of the men who guarded the Sacred Chest.

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.

The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer were appointed to blow trumpets in front of the Sacred Chest. Obed-Edom and Jehiah also guarded the Sacred Chest.

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.

David and the Israeli leaders and the officers who commanded 1,000 soldiers went to bring the Sacred Chest back from Obed-Edom’s house. They were very joyful as they brought it to Jerusalem.

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.

God helped the descendants of Levi who carried the Sacred Chest of Yahweh; therefore David and the leaders sacrificed seven bulls and seven (rams/male sheep) [to thank him].

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;

All the descendants of Levi who carried the Sacred Chest, all the singers, and Kenaniah, the man who directed those who sang, wore robes of fine white linen and sacred vests made of fine linen. David also wore a sacred vest made of white linen.

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 of the Israeli people joined in bringing the Sacred Chest up [to Jerusalem]. They shouted [joyfully, while the musicians] blew horns and trumpets, and played cymbals, lyres, and harps.

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.

While they were bringing the Sacred Chest into Jerusalem, Saul’s daughter Michal watched them, looking out of a window. When she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him.