Chronicles I 15

1 And [David] made for himself houses in the city of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and made 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 said David, It is not [lawful for any] to bear the ark of God, but the Levites; for the Lord has chosen them to bear the ark of the Lord, and to minister to him 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 assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place which he [had] prepared 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 gathered together the sons of Aaron 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 Caath; [there was] Uriel the chief, and his brethren, 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; Asaia the chief, and his brethren, 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 Gedson; Joel the chief, and his brethren, 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 Elisaphat; Semei the chief, and his brethren, two hundred.

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

9 Of the sons of Chebrom; Eliel the chief, and his brethren eighty.

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

10 Of the sons of Oziel; Aminadab the chief, and his brethren a hundred and twelve.

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

11 And David called Sadoc and Abiathar the priests, and the Levites, Uriel, Asaia, and Joel, and Semaia, and Eliel, and Aminadab,

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, Ye [are] the heads of the families of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, and ye shall carry up the ark of the God of Israel, [to the place] which I have prepared 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 ye were not [ready] at the first, our God made a breach upon us, because we sought him not according to the ordinance.

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 sanctified themselves, to bring up the ark of 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 the ark of God, (as Moses commanded by the word of God according to the scripture) upon their shoulders with staves.

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 said to the chiefs of the Levites, Set your brethren the singers with musical instruments, lutes, harps, and cymbals, to sound aloud with a voice 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 the Levites appointed Aeman the son of Joel; Asaph the son of Barachias [was one] of his brethren; and Aethan the son of Kisaeus was of the sons of Merari their brethren;

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 brethren of the second rank, Zacharias, and Oziel, and Semiramoth, and Jeiel, and Elioel, and Eliab, and Banaia, and Maasaia, and Matthathia, and Eliphena, and Makellia, and Abdedom, and Jeiel, and Ozias, the porters.

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 And the singers, Aeman, Asaph, and Aethan, with brazen cymbals to make [a sound] to be heard.

Heman, Asaph and Ethan sang, and also played bronze cymbals.

20 Zacharias, and Oziel, Semiramoth, Jeiel, Oni, Eliab, Maasaeas, Banaeas, with lutes, on alaemoth.

Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah played lyres.

21 And Mattathias, and Eliphalu, and Makenia, and Abdedom, and Jeiel, and Ozias, with harps of Amasenith, to make a loud noise.

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

22 And Chonenia chief of the Levites [was] master of the bands, because he was skilful.

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

23 And Barachia and Elcana [were] door-keepers of the ark.

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

24 And Somnia, and Josaphat, and Nathanael, and Amasai, and Zacharia, and Banaea, and Eliezer, the priests, were sounding with trumpets before the ark of God: and Abdedom and Jeia [were] door-keepers of the ark of God.

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 elders of Israel, and the captains of thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant from the house of Abdedom with gladness.

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 it came to pass when God strengthened the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they sacrificed seven calves and seven rams.

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] girt with a fine linen robe, and all the Levites [who were] bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the singers, and Chonenias the master of the band of singers; also upon David [there was] a robe of fine linen.

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 And all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of a horn, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, playing loudly on lutes and harps.

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 the ark of the covenant of the Lord arrived, and came to the city of David; and Melchol the daughter of Saul looked down through the window, and saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart.

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.