1 Chronicles 15

1 And he maketh for himself houses in the city of David, and prepareth a place for the ark of God, and stretcheth out for it a tent.

Once David had finished building houses for himself in the City of David, he made a place for the Ark of God and set up a tent there.

2 Then said David, 'None [are] to carry the ark of God, except the Levites, for on them hath Jehovah fixed to carry the ark of God, and to serve Him — unto the age.'

Then he gave orders: “Nobody is to carry the Ark of God except the Levites, for the Lord himself chose them to carry the Ark of the Lord and to serve him forever.”

3 And David assembleth all Israel unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Jehovah unto its place that he had prepared for it.

David summoned all of Israel to Jerusalem to bring the Ark of the Lord to the place he'd prepared for it.

4 And David gathereth the sons of Aaron, and the Levites.

This is the list of the Levites, the sons of Aaron, that David called to attend:

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

From the sons of Kohath, Uriel (chief), and 120 of his relatives;

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

from the sons of Merari, Asaiah (chief), with 220 of his relatives;

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

from the sons of Gershom, Joel (chief), with 130 of his relatives;

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

from the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah (chief), with 200 of his relatives;

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

from the sons of Hebron, Eliel (chief), with 80 of his relatives;

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

from the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab (chief), with 112 of his relatives.

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

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

12 and saith to them, 'Ye [are] heads of the fathers of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, ye and your brethren, and ye have brought up the ark of Jehovah, God of Israel, unto [the place] I have prepared for it;

He told them, “You are the heads of the Levite families. You must make yourselves and your relatives ceremonially clean and pure before you bring back the Ark of God, the Lord of Israel to the place I have made for it.

13 because at the first [it was] not ye, Jehovah our God made a breach upon us, because we sought Him not according to the ordinance.'

Because you weren't there the first time to carry the Ark the Lord our God burst out in violence against us. We didn't treat it in accordance with his instructions.”

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

So the priests and the Levites purified themselves so that they could bring back the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.

15 and sons of the Levites bear the ark of God, as Moses commanded, according to the word of Jehovah, on their shoulder, with staves, above them.

Then the Levites carried the Ark of God in the way that Moses had ordered, according to what God had said—on their shoulders using the special carrying poles.

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

David also instructed the leaders of the Levites to assign from their relatives singers who would sing loudly for joy, accompanied by musicians playing lyres, and harps, and cymbals.

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

18 and with them their brethren, 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;

The second group of Levites consisted of Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah; and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.

19 and the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, with cymbals of brass to sound,

The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to strike the bronze cymbals;

20 and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jeheil, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries besides virgins,

Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps “according to alamoth,”

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

while 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 instructeth about the burden, for he [is] intelligent.

Kenaniah, the leader of the Levites in singing, was chosen to lead the music because of his ability.

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

Berechiah and Elkanah were appointed to guard 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 in front of the Ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also appointed to guard the Ark.

25 And it is David, and the elders of Israel, and the heads of the thousands, who are going to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah from the house of Obed-Edom with joy;

Then David, the elders of Israel, and the senior army commanders, went with great celebration to bring back the Ark of the Lord's Agreement from the home of Obed-Edom.

26 and it cometh to pass, in God's helping the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, that they sacrifice seven bullocks and seven rams.

Because God helped the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord's Agreement, 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 bearing the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah head of the burden of the singers; and on David [is] an Ephod of linen.

David wore a robe of fine linen like all the Levites who were carrying the Ark, and the singers and Kenaniah the leader of the music and singers. David also wore a linen ephod.

28 And all Israel are bringing up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah with shouting, and with the sound of a cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, sounding with psalteries and harps,

So all of Israel brought back the Ark of the Lord's Agreement with a lot of shouting, accompanied by horns, trumpets, and cymbals, and music played on harps and lyres.

29 and it cometh to pass, the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is entering in unto the city of David, and Michal daughter of Saul is looking through the window, and seeth king David dancing and playing, and despiseth him in her heart.

But as Ark of the Lord's Agreement entered the City of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked down from a window. Seeing David the king jumping and dancing for joy, she was full of contempt for him.