1 Chronicles 15:16–16:6

¹⁶David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on ^pmusical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. ¹⁷So the Levites appointed ^qHeman the son of Joel; and of his brothers ^rAsaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, ^sEthan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. ¹⁹The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; ²⁰Zechariah, ^tAziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to ^uAlamoth; ²¹but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, ^vObed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to ^wthe Sheminith. ²²Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. ²³Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. ²⁴Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should ^xblow the trumpets before the ark of God. ^vObed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.

^25ySo David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of ^vObed-edom with rejoicing. ²⁶And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed ^zseven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. ²⁸So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, ^atrumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on ^bharps and lyres.

²⁹And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

The Ark Placed in a Tent

16And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside ^cthe tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ²And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord ³and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat,¹ and a cake of raisins.

⁴Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. ^5dAsaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, ⁶and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.