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.

Once David had finished building houses for himself in the City of David, he made a place for the Ark of God and set up a tent there.

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.

Then he gave orders: “Nobody is to carry the Ark of God except the Levites, for the Lord himself chose them to carry the Ark of the Lord 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 of Israel to Jerusalem to bring the Ark of the Lord to the place he'd prepared for it.

4 And David gathered together the sons of Aaron the Levites.

This is the list of the Levites, the sons of Aaron, that David called to attend:

5 Of the sons of Caath; [there was] Uriel the chief, and his brethren, a hundred and twenty.

From the sons of Kohath, Uriel (chief), and 120 of his relatives;

6 Of the sons of Merari; Asaia the chief, and his brethren, two hundred and twenty.

from the sons of Merari, Asaiah (chief), with 220 of his relatives;

7 Of the sons of Gedson; Joel the chief, and his brethren, a hundred and thirty.

from the sons of Gershom, Joel (chief), with 130 of his relatives;

8 Of the sons of Elisaphat; Semei the chief, and his brethren, two hundred.

from the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah (chief), with 200 of his relatives;

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

from the sons of Hebron, Eliel (chief), with 80 of his relatives;

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

from the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab (chief), with 112 of his relatives.

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

Then 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: sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, and you shall carry up the ark of the God of Israel, [to the place] which I have prepared for it.

He told them, “You are the heads of the Levite families. You must make yourselves and your relatives ceremonially clean and pure before you bring back the Ark of God, the Lord of Israel to the place I have made for it.

13 For because you were not [ready] at the first, our God made a breach upon us, because we sought him not according to the ordinance.

Because you weren't there the first time to carry the Ark the Lord our God burst out in violence against us. We didn't treat it in accordance with his instructions.”

14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves, to bring up the ark of the God of Israel.

So the priests and the Levites purified themselves so that they could bring back the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.

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.

Then the Levites carried the Ark of God in the way that Moses had ordered, according to what God had said—on their shoulders using the special carrying poles.

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 also instructed the leaders of the Levites to assign from their relatives singers who would sing loudly for joy, accompanied by musicians playing lyres, and harps, and cymbals.

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 the Levites assigned Heman the son of Joel; and from his relatives Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari, their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah.

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.

The second group of Levites consisted of Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah; and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.

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

The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to strike the 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 were to play harps “according to alamoth,”

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

while Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres “according to sheminith.”

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

Kenaniah, the leader of the Levites in singing, was chosen to lead the music because of his ability.

23 And Barachia and Elcana [were] doorkeepers of the ark.

Berechiah and Elkanah were appointed to guard the Ark.

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] doorkeepers of the ark of God.

Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests were to blow the trumpets in front of the Ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also appointed to guard the Ark.

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.

Then David, the elders of Israel, and the senior army commanders, went with great celebration to bring back the Ark of the Lord's Agreement from the home of Obed-Edom.

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.

Because God helped the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord's Agreement, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

27 And David [was] girded 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.

David wore a robe of fine linen like all the Levites who were carrying the Ark, and the singers and Kenaniah the leader of the music and singers. David also wore a linen ephod.

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 Israel brought back the Ark of the Lord's Agreement with a lot of shouting, accompanied by horns, trumpets, and cymbals, and music played on harps and lyres.

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.

But as Ark of the Lord's Agreement entered the City of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked down from a window. Seeing David the king jumping and dancing for joy, she was full of contempt for him.