1 Chronicles 15

1 And he makes houses for himself in the City of David, and prepares a place for the Ark of God, and stretches out a tent for it.

David constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

2 Then David said, “None [are] to carry the Ark of God, except the Levites, for YHWH has fixed on them to carry the Ark of God and to serve Him for all time.”

Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before Him forever.”

3 And David assembles all Israel to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of YHWH to its place that he had prepared for it.

And David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to the place he had prepared for it.

4 And David gathers the sons of Aaron and the Levites—

Then he gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:

5 of sons of Kohath: Uriel the chief and one hundred and twenty of his brothers;

From the Kohathites, Uriel the chief and 120 of his relatives;

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

from the Merarites, Asaiah the chief and 220 of his relatives;

7 of sons of Gershom: Joel the chief and one hundred and thirty of his brothers;

from the Gershomites, Joel the chief and 130 of his relatives;

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

from the Elizaphanites, Shemaiah the chief and 200 of his relatives;

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

from the Hebronites, Eliel the chief and 80 of his relatives;

10 of sons of Uzziel: Amminadab the chief and one hundred and twelve of his brothers.

and from the Uzzielites, Amminadab the chief and 112 of his relatives.

11 And David calls to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, and to the Levites, to Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,

David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.

12 and says to them, “You [are] heads of the fathers of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your brothers, and you have brought up the Ark of YHWH, God of Israel, to [the place] I have prepared for it;

And he said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.

13 because you [did] not [do it] at the first, our God YHWH made a breach on us, because we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.”

It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the LORD our God burst forth in anger against us. For we did not consult Him about the proper order.”

14 And the priests and the Levites sanctify themselves to bring up the Ark of YHWH, God of Israel;

So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.

15 and sons of the Levites carry the Ark of God, as Moses commanded, according to the word of YHWH, above them with poles on their shoulder.

And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.

16 And David says to the heads of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers, with instruments of song, psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, sounding, to lift up with the voice for joy.

David also told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers to lift up their voices with joy, accompanied by musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals.

17 And the Levites appoint Heman son of Joel, and of his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah, and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan son of Kushaiah;

So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;

18 and with them their brothers, the seconds [in rank]: Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah; and Obed-Edom and Jeiel the gatekeepers;

and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.

19 and the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, [are] to sound with cymbals of bronze;

The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals.

20 and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jeheil, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries over the girls’ [voices],

Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play the harps according to Alamoth.

21 and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, to oversee with harps on the eighth.

And Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres according to Sheminith.

22 And Chenaniah, head of the Levites, [is] over the burden; he instructs about the burden, for he [is] intelligent.

Chenaniah the head Levite was the director of the music because he was highly skilled.

23 And Berechiah and Elkanah [are] gatekeepers for the Ark.

Berechiah and Elkanah were to be guardians of the ark.

24 And Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests, are blowing with trumpets before the Ark of God; and Obed-Edom and Jehiah [are] gatekeepers for the Ark.

Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer—the priests—were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also to be guardians of the ark.

25 And it is David, and [the] elderly of Israel, and the heads of the thousands, who are going to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH from the house of Obed-Edom with joy;

So David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went with rejoicing to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom.

26 and it comes to pass, in God’s helping the Levites carrying the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH, that they sacrifice seven bullocks and seven rams.

And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

27 And David is wrapped in an upper robe of fine linen, and all the Levites who are carrying the Ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah head of the burden of the singers; and an Ephod of linen [is] on David.

Now David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, as well as the singers and Chenaniah, the director of music for the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.

28 And all of Israel is bringing up the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH with shouting, and with the sound of a horn, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, sounding with psalteries and harps,

So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and with cymbals and the music of harps and lyres.

29 and it comes to pass, the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH is entering into the City of David, and Michal daughter of Saul is looking through the window, and sees King David dancing and playing, and despises him in her heart.

As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.