Plans to Move the Ark to Jerusalem

1 Now David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and apitched a tent for it.

2 Then David said, “aNo one is to carry the ark of God but the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of God and to minister to Him forever.”

3 And aDavid assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord bto its place which he had prepared for it.

4 David gathered together the sons of Aaron and athe Levites:

5 of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and 120 of his 1relatives;

6 of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and 220 of his relatives;

7 of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and 130 of his relatives;

8 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and 200 of his relatives;

9 of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and 80 of his relatives;

10 of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and 112 of his relatives.

11 Then David called for aZadok and bAbiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab,

12 and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites; aconsecrate yourselves both you and your relatives, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel bto the place that I have prepared for it.

13 “aBecause you did not carry it at the first, the Lord our God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.”

14 aSo the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.

15 The sons of athe Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles thereon, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

16 Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites ato appoint their relatives the singers, with instruments of music, harps, lyres, loud-sounding cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.

17 So athe Levites appointed 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 relatives of the second rank, Zechariah, 1Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.

19 So the singers, Heman, Asaph and Ethan were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of bronze;

20 and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah, with 1harps tuned to aalamoth;

21 and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel and Azaziah, to lead with 1lyres tuned to athe sheminith.

22 Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful.

23 Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.

24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer, the priests, ablew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were gatekeepers for the ark.

25 aSo it was David, with the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands, who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from bthe house of Obed-edom with joy.

26 Because God was helping the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed aseven bulls and seven rams.

27 Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. aDavid also wore an ephod of linen.

28 Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres.

29 It happened when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, that aMichal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart.

Chapter 16

A Tent for the Ark

1 And they brought in the ark of God and aplaced it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

2 When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

3 He distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread and a portion of meat and a raisin cake.

4 He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, even to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel:

5 Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then 1Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals,

6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

7 Then on that day David afirst assigned 1Asaph and his 2relatives to give thanks to the Lord.

Psalm of Thanksgiving

8 aOh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;

bMake known His deeds among the peoples.

9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;

1Speak of all His 2wonders.

10 1Glory in His holy name;

Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.

11 aSeek the Lord and His strength;

Seek His face continually.

12 aRemember His wonderful deeds which He has done,

bHis marvels and the judgments from His mouth,

13 O seed of Israel His servant,

Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!

14 He is the Lord our God;

aHis judgments are in all the earth.

15 Remember His covenant forever,

The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,

16 aThe covenant which He made with Abraham,

And His oath to Isaac.

17 aHe also confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,

To Israel as an everlasting covenant,

18 Saying, “aTo you I will give the land of Canaan,

As the portion of your inheritance.”

19 aWhen they were only a few in number,

Very few, and strangers in it,

20 And they wandered about from nation to nation,

And from one kingdom to another people,

21 He permitted no man to oppress them,

And aHe reproved kings for their sakes, saying,

22 “Do not touch My anointed ones,

And ado My prophets no harm.”

23 aSing to the Lord, all the earth;

Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

24 Tell of His glory among the nations,

His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

25 For agreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

He also is bto be feared above all gods.

26 For all the gods of the peoples are 1aidols,

bBut the Lord made the heavens.

27 Splendor and majesty are before Him,

Strength and joy are in His place.

28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;

Bring an 1offering, and come before Him;

aWorship the Lord in 2holy array.

30 Tremble before Him, all the earth;

Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.

31 aLet the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

And let them say among the nations, “bThe Lord reigns.”

32 aLet the sea 1roar, and 2all it contains;

Let the field exult, and all that is in it.

33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord;

For He is coming to judge the earth.

34 aO give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

35 aThen say, “Save us, O God of our salvation,

And gather us and deliver us from the nations,

To give thanks to Your holy name,

And 1glory in Your praise.”

36 aBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

From everlasting even to everlasting.

Then all the people bsaid, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.

Worship before the Ark

37 So he left Asaph and his 1relatives there abefore the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark continually, bas every day’s work required;

38 and aObed-edom with 1his 68 relatives; Obed-edom, also the son of Jeduthun, and bHosah as gatekeepers.

39 He left aZadok the priest and his 1relatives the priests bbefore the 2tabernacle of the Lord in the high place which was at Gibeon,

40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, aeven according to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which He commanded Israel.

41 With them were aHeman and Jeduthun, and bthe rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to cgive thanks to the Lord, because His lovingkindness is everlasting.

42 And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who should sound aloud, and with instruments for athe songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate.

43 aThen all the people departed each to his house, and David returned to bless his household.