1 Chronicles 15

1 And [David] made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.

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 ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister to him for ever.

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 assembled all Israel to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place, which 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 assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites:

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

5 Of the sons of Kohath; Uriel the chief, and his brethren a hundred and twenty:

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

6 Of the sons of Merari; Asaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty:

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

7 Of the sons of Gershom; Joel the chief, and his brethren a hundred and thirty:

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

8 Of the sons of Elizaphan; Shemaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred:

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

9 Of the sons of Hebron; Eliel the chief, and his brethren eighty:

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

10 Of the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab the chief, and his brethren a hundred and twelve.

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

11 And David called for Zadok and 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 the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.

12 And said to them, Ye [are] the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, [both] ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel to [the place that] 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 For because ye [did it] not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.

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

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

15 And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staffs on it, as Moses commanded, according to the word of the LORD.

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 spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren [to be] the singers with instruments of music, psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with 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 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the 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 brethren of the second [degree], 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 porters.

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 So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, [were appointed] to sound with cymbals of brass;

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

20 And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries on Alamoth;

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, with harps on the Sheminith to excel.

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

22 And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, [was] for song: he instructed about the song, because he [was] skillful.

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

23 And Berechiah and Elkanah [were] door-keepers for the ark.

Berechiah and Elkanah were to be guardians of the ark.

24 And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests, did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and Jehiah [were] door-keepers 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 So David and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD 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 came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that they offered 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 [was] clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also [had] upon him an ephod of linen.

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 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, making a noise 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 came to pass, [as] the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul, looking out at a window, saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised 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.