1 Chronicles 15

1 And he made him houses, in the city of David, —and 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, said David, None must carry the ark of God, save the Levites, —for, of them, did Yahweh make choice, to bear the ark of Yahweh, and to attend it, unto times age-abiding.

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 So David convoked all Israel, unto Jerusalem, —to bring up the ark of Yahweh, unto the place thereof, 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 And 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 brethren, one hundred and 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 brethren, two hundred and 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 brethren, one hundred and 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 brethren, 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 brethren, eighty;

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

10 of the son of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and his brethren, a hundred and twelve.

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

11 Then called David, for Zadok and for Abiathar, the priests, —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 unto them, Ye, are the chiefs of the fathers of the Levites, —Hallow yourselves, ye and your brethren, so shall ye bring up the ark of Yahweh—God of Israel, into [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, at the first, ye, did not [bring it], Yahweh our God brake forth against us, because we sought him not in the appointed way.

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 priests and the Levites hallowed themselves, —to bring up the ark of Yahweh, 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 the sons of the Levites bare the ark of God, just as Moses commanded, according to the word of Yahweh, —on their shoulder, with the staves upon them.

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 spake to the chiefs of the Levites, to station their brethren the singers, with instruments of song, harps and lyres, and cymbals, —sounding aloud at the lifting up of 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 So the Levites caused to stand, Heman son of Joel, and, of his brethren, Asaph, son of Berechiah, —and, of the sons of Merari their brethren, 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 brethren of the second degree, —Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mickneiah, and Obed-edom and Jeiel, the door-keepers.

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, with cymbals of bronze, were to sound aloud;

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

20 and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah and Benaiah, —with harps, over the trebles;

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

21 and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel and Azaziah, —with lyres over the bass, to take the lead.

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

22 And, Chenaniah the leader of the Levites, in the service, used to give instructions in the service, because skilful was he.

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

23 And, Berechiah and Elkanah, were door-keepers to the ark.

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

24 And, Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were blowing with the trumpets, before the ark of God, —and, Obed-edom and Jehiah, were door-keepers, to 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 Thus, it was, David and the elders of Israel, and the rulers of thousands, who were going, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, 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 And so it was that, when God helped the Levites, who were bearing the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, they sacrificed 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 Now, David, was wrapped about with a robe of byssus, with all the Levites who were bearing the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the service rendered by the singers, —but, upon David, was an ephod of white 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 So, all Israel, were bringing up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, with shouting, and with sound of the horn, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, —sounding aloud, with harps, and lyres.

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 so it was that, when the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came in as far as the city of David, —and Michal daughter of Saul looked forth through the window, and saw King David, dancing and playing, that 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.