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 [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, “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.”

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 assembles all Israel to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of YHWH to its place that 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 gathers 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 of sons of Kohath: Uriel the chief and one hundred and twenty of his brothers;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 these [other] descendants of Levi: 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;

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 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.”

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 And the priests and the Levites sanctify themselves to bring up the Ark of YHWH, 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 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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;

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

Heman, Asaph and Ethan sang, and also played 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 played lyres.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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 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;

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 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.

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 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.

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 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 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 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.

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.