1 Chronicles 15–16

15^*And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and ^apitched for it a tent. ²Then David said, ^†None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ^bark of God, and to minister unto him for ever. ³And David ^cgathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto ^dhis place, which he had prepared for it. ⁴And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites: ⁵Of the sons of ^eKohath; Uriel the chief, and his ^||brethren an hundred and twenty: ⁶Of the sons of ^eMerari; Asaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty: ⁷Of the sons of ^eGershom; Joel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and thirty: ⁸Of the sons of ^fElizaphan; Shemaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred: ⁹Of the sons of ^gHebron; Eliel the chief, and his brethren fourscore: ¹⁰Of the sons of ^gUzziel; Amminadab the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twelve.

¹¹And David called for ^hZadok and ⁱAbiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for ^jUriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, ¹²And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: ^jjsanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto ^dthe place that I have prepared for it. ¹³For ^kbecause ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God ^lmade a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order. ¹⁴So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁵And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the ^mstaves thereon, as ⁿMoses commanded according to the word of the Lord. ¹⁶And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, ^opsalteries and ^oharps and ^ocymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. ¹⁷So the Levites appointed ^pHeman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, ^qAsaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, ^rEthan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸And with them their brethren of the second degree, Zechariah, ^sBen, 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. ¹⁹So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with ^tcymbals of brass; ²⁰And Zechariah, and ^||Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with ^tpsalteries ^uon Alamoth; ²¹And Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and ^sAzaziah, with ^tharps ^||on the Sheminith ^xto excel. ²²And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, ^||was for ^†song: he instructed about the ^†song, because he was skilful. ²³And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark. ²⁴And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow ^ywith the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.

²⁵So ^zDavid, 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. ²⁶And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered ^aseven bullocks and seven rams. ²⁷And David was clothed with a robe of ^bfine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the ^||song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of linen. ²⁸Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the ^ccornet, and with ^dtrumpets, and with ^ecymbals, making a noise with ^epsalteries and ^eharps. ^29fAnd 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.

16So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God. ²And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. ³And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. ⁴And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to ^arecord, and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: ^5bAsaph the chief, and ^cnext to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom: and Jeiel ^†with ^dpsalteries and with ^dharps; but Asaph made a sound with ^dcymbals; ⁶Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with ^etrumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷Then on that day David delivered ^ffirst this psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of ^bAsaph and his brethren.

^8gGive thanks unto the Lord, ^hcall upon his name,

ⁱMake known his deeds among the people.

⁹Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him,

^kTalk ye of all his wondrous works.

¹⁰Glory ye in his holy name:

Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.

¹¹Seek the Lord and his strength,

^lSeek his face continually.

^12mRemember his marvellous works that he hath done,

His ⁿwonders, and the judgments of his mouth;

¹³O ye seed of Israel his servant,

Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

¹⁴He is the Lord our God;

His ^ojudgments are in all the earth.

¹⁵Be ye mindful always of his covenant;

The word which he commanded to a thousand generations;

¹⁶Even of the covenant ^pwhich he made with Abraham,

And of his ^poath unto Isaac;

¹⁷And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law,

And to Israel for an everlasting covenant,

¹⁸Saying, ^qUnto thee will I give the land of Canaan,

^†The lot of your inheritance;

¹⁹When ye were but ^†few,

Even ^ra few, and ^sstrangers in it.

²⁰And when they went from nation to nation,

And from one kingdom to another people;

^21tHe suffered no man to do them wrong:

Yea, he ^ureproved kings for their sakes,

²²Saying, Touch not mine anointed,

And do my ^xprophets no harm.

^23ySing unto the Lord, all the earth;

Shew forth from day to day his salvation.

²⁴Declare his glory among the heathen;

His marvellous works among all nations.

²⁵For ^zgreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised:

He also is to be feared ^aabove all gods.

²⁶For all the gods of the people are ^bidols:

^cBut the Lord made the heavens.

²⁷Glory and honour are in his presence;

Strength and ^dgladness are in his place.

²⁸Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people,

^eGive unto the Lord glory and strength.

^29fGive unto the Lord the glory due unto his name:

Bring an offering, and come before him:

Worship the Lord in ^gthe beauty of holiness.

³⁰Fear before him, all the earth:

The world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.

³¹Let the heavens be glad, and ^hlet the earth rejoice:

And let men say among the nations, ⁱThe Lord reigneth.

^32kLet the sea roar, and the fulness thereof:

Let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein.

³³Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord,

Because he cometh to judge the earth.

^34lO give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good;

For his mercy endureth for ever.

³⁵And say ye,

^mSave us, O God of our salvation,

And gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen,

That we may give thanks to thy holy name,

And glory in thy praise.

³⁶ⁿBlessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever.

^oAnd all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord.

³⁷So he left there ^pbefore the ark of the covenant of the Lord Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as ^qevery day’s work required: ³⁸And Obed-edom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and ^rHosah to be porters: ³⁹And ^sZadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord ^tin the high place that was at Gibeon, ⁴⁰To offer burnt offerings unto the Lord upon ^uthe altar of the burnt offering ^wcontinually ^†morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which he commanded Israel; ⁴¹And with them ^xHeman and ^yJeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who ^zwere expressed by name, to give thanks to the Lord, ^abecause his mercy endureth for ever; ⁴²And with them ^xHeman and ^yJeduthun with ^btrumpets and cymbals for those that should make a sound, and with ^bmusical instruments of God. And ^cthe sons of Jeduthun were ^†porters. ^43dAnd all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house.