1 Chronicles 15

1 Also, he made houses for himself in the City of David. And built a place for the ark of God, and he set 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: “It is illicit for anyone to carry the ark of God except the Levites, whom the Lord chose to carry it and to minister to himself, even unto eternity.”

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 he gathered all of Israel in Jerusalem, so that the ark of God might be brought into its 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 Certainly, there were both 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 From the sons of Kohath, Uriel was the leader, and his brothers were one hundred twenty.

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

6 From the sons of Merari: Asaiah was the leader, and his brothers were two hundred twenty.

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

7 From the sons of Gershom: Joel was the leader, and his brothers were one hundred thirty.

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

8 From the sons of Elizaphan: Shemaiah was the leader, and his brothers were two hundred.

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

9 From the sons of Hebron: Eliel was the leader, and his brothers were eighty.

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

10 From the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab was the leader, and his brothers were one hundred twelve.

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

11 And David summoned the priests, Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, 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 he said to them: “You who are the leaders of the Levitical families, be sanctified with your brothers, and bring the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place that has been 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 Otherwise, as it was before, when the Lord struck us because you were not present, so also it might be now, if we do what is illicit.”

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 Therefore, the priests and the Levites were sanctified, so that they might carry the ark of the Lord 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 Levi took the ark of God, just as Moses had instructed, in accord with the word of the Lord, upon their shoulders by the bars.

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 spoke to the leaders of the Levites, so that they might appoint, from their brothers, singers with musical instruments, specifically, psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, so that a joyful noise might resound on high.

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 And they appointed from the Levites: Heman, the son of Joel; and from his brothers, Asaph, the son of Berechiah; and truly, from their brothers, the sons of Merari: Ethan, the son of Kushaiah.

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 were their brothers in the second rank: Zechariah, and Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jahiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, who were gatekeepers.

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 Now the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were sounding out with cymbals of brass.

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

20 And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah were singing mysteries with the psalteries.

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

21 Then Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah and Obededom, and Jeiel and Azaziah were singing a song of victory with the harps, for the octave.

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

22 Now Chenaniah, the leader of the Levites, was foremost over the prophecies, in order to mark out in advance the melodies. For indeed, he was very skillful.

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 porters of the ark.

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

24 And the priests, Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, were sounding the trumpets before the ark of God. And Obededom and Jehiah were porters of 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 Therefore, David, and all those greater by birth of Israel, and the tribunes, went to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obededom with rejoicing.

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 had assisted the Levites, who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they immolated seven bulls 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 Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah, the leader of the prophecy among the singers. But David was also clothed with 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 And all of Israel were leading back the ark of the covenant of the Lord with jubilation, sounding out with the noise of horns, and trumpets, and cymbals, and psalteries, 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 when the ark of the covenant of the Lord had arrived in the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, gazing through a window, 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.