1 Chronicles 15

1 David made him houses in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.

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, "No one ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites. For the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of God, and to minister to him forever."

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 David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD to 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 David gathered together 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 the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and his brothers one hundred twenty;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11 David called for Zadok and Abiathar the cohanim, and for the Levites, for 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 said to them, "You are the heads of the fathers' households of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, both you and your brothers, that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that 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 For because you were not prepared the first time, the LORD our God made an outbreak against 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 So the cohanim and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the 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 The descendants of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD.

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 David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers, with instruments of music, stringed instruments and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with 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 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, 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 their brothers of the second degree, Zechariah, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah were doorkeepers.

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 So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were given cymbals of bronze to sound aloud;

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

20 and Zechariah, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with stringed instruments set to Alamoth;

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

21 and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the eight-stringed lyre, to lead.

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

22 Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the song: he instructed about the song, because he was skillful.

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

23 Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.

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

24 Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the cohanim, blew the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers 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 So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of 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 It happened, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that they sacrificed 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 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites who bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: and David had on him an ephod of linen.

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 Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, sounding aloud with stringed instruments 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 It happened, as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the City of David, that Mikal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and 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.