2 Samuel 6

1 And David assembled again all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.

Then David chose 30,000 Israeli men and gathered them together.

2 And David arose, and went with all the people who were with him from Ba'ale-yehudah, to bring up from there the ark of God, the name of which was called by the name of the Lord of hosts, that dwelleth over the cherubim.

He led them to the place in Judah [formerly] called Baalah, [now called Kiriath-Jearim]. They went in order to bring from there [to Jerusalem] the sacred chest, which had the name of Yahweh, the leader of the armies of [the angels in] heaven, written on it, and which had the [statues of the] winged creatures on top of it. Between those statues was where Yahweh spoke messages about ruling his people [MTY].

3 And they conveyed the ark of God in a new wagon, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was on the hill; and 'Uzzah and Achyo, the sons of Abinadab, guided the new wagon.

The sacred chest was in the house of Abinadab, on top of a hill. They went there, and they put the chest on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio, the two sons of Abinadab, were guiding [the oxen that were pulling the cart].

4 When they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was on the hill, [they were] near the ark of God; but Achyo went before the ark.

Uzzah walked alongside the cart, and Ahio walked in front of it.

5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir-wood, and on harps, and on psalteries, and on tambourines, and with bells, and with cymbals.

David and all the Israeli men were celebrating in God’s presence, singing with all their strength and [playing] lyres and harps, and beating tambourines, and clashing castanets and cymbals.

6 And when they came to the threshing-floor of Nachon, 'Uzzah put forth [his hand] to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.

But when they came to the place where Nacon threshed grain, the oxen stumbled. So Uzzah put his hand on the sacred chest to (steady it/prevent it from falling [off the cart]).

7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against 'Uzzah; and God smote him there for the error; and he died there by the ark of God.

Yahweh immediately became very angry with Uzzah, and he killed him right there alongside the sacred chest, because he had touched the chest, [and Yahweh had commanded that only the descendants of Levi who help the priests should touch the sacred chest].

8 And it was grievous to David, because the Lord had suddenly taken away 'Uzzah; and he called that place Perez-'uzzah [[Breach of 'Uzzah]] until this day.

David was angry because Yahweh had punished Uzzah. So ever since that time, that place has been called ‘The Punishment of Uzzah’.

9 And David was afraid of the Lord on that day, and said, How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?

David was [also] afraid of [what else] Yahweh [would do to punish them], so he said, “(How can I take the sacred chest with me [to Jerusalem]?/I am afraid to take the sacred chest with me [to Jerusalem].)” [RHQ]

10 So David would not allow to have the ark of the Lord removed unto him into the city of David; but David had it carried round into the house of 'Obed-edom the Gittite.

So he did not want to take the sacred chest to Jerusalem. Instead, they took it to another place; they took it to the house of Obed-Edom, from Gath [city].

11 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of 'Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the Lord blessed 'Obed-edom, and all his household.

They left the sacred chest in the house of Obed-Edom for three months, and [during that time] Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom and his family.

12 And it was told to king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of 'Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God: and David then went and brought up the ark of God from the house of 'Obed-edom into the city of David with joy.

Later, people told David, “Yahweh has blessed Obed-Edom and his family because [he is taking care] of the sacred chest!” When David heard that, he [and some other men] went to Obed-Edom’s house, and very joyfully brought the sacred chest from there to Jerusalem.

13 And it happened, that when the bearers of the ark of the Lord had progressed six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.

[This time, descendants of Levi] were carrying the sacred chest, but when they had walked only six steps, they stopped, and there David killed a bull and a fat calf, and offered them to Yahweh for a sacrifice.

14 And David danced with all his might before the Lord; and David was girded with a linen ephod.

David was wearing [only] a linen cloth wrapped around his waist, and was dancing very energetically to honor Yahweh.

15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the cornet.

David and the Israeli men took the sacred chest up [to Jerusalem], shouting [loudly] and blowing trumpets.

16 And it happened, as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked through the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

While they were carrying the sacred chest into the city, [David’s wife] Michal, who was Saul’s daughter, looked out the window [of her house]. She saw King David leaping and dancing to honor Yahweh. So she was disgusted with him.

17 And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt-offerings before the Lord and peace-offerings.

They brought the sacred chest into the tent that David had erected for it. Then David gave to Yahweh offerings to be completely burned [on an altar], and other offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh.

18 And when David had made an end of offering the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.

When David had finished offering those sacrifices, he asked Yahweh, the Commander of the armies [of the angels], to bless the people.

19 And he dealt out to all the people, to the whole multitude of Israel, to both men and women, to every person one cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine: and all the people departed every one to his house.

He also distributed food to all the people. To each Israeli man and woman he gave a loaf of bread, some meat, and a raisin cake. Then all the people returned to their homes.

20 And David then returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and she said, How honored was today the king of Israel, who uncovered himself today before the eyes of the hand-maids of his servants, as only one of the low fellows can uncover himself!

When David went home to [ask Yahweh to] bless his family, his wife Michal came out to meet him. She said to him, “Maybe you, the king of Israel, [think that you] [IRO] were honoring yourself today, but really, you acted like a fool, uncovering yourself while the female servants of your officials were watching!”

21 And David said unto Michal, Before the Lord, who chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to ordain me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: —yea, before the Lord will I yet farther play.

David replied to Michal, “[I was doing that] to honor Yahweh, who chose me instead of your father and other members of his family, to be the king of the Israeli people, the people who belong to Yahweh. And I will [continue to] dance to honor Yahweh!

22 And should I be yet more vile than thus, and should I be base in my own eyes: yet among the maid-servants of whom thou hast spoken, yea, among them would I still be honored.

[Even though you think that what I did] was disgraceful, I will continue to do it even more. You may despise me [because of what I did], but the women whom you were talking about will honor me!”

23 And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child until the day of her death.

[As a result, ] Saul’s daughter Michal never gave birth to any children.