2 Samuel 6

Chapter 6

Peril in Moving the Ark

^1aNow David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.

²And David arose and went with all the people who were with him to ^1aBaale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the ^bName, the very name of the Lord of hosts who ^cis ²enthroned above the cherubim.

³They ¹placed the ark of God on ^aa new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart.

⁴So ^athey brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark.

⁵Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel ^awere celebrating before the Lord ^bwith all kinds of instruments made of ¹fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals.

⁶But when they came to the ^athreshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah ^breached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it.

⁷And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and ^aGod struck him down there for ¹his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.

⁸David became angry because ¹of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, and that place is called ²Perez-uzzah to this day.

⁹So ^aDavid was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”

¹⁰And David was unwilling to move the ark of the Lord into the city of David with him; but David took it aside to the house of ^aObed-edom the Gittite.

¹¹Thus the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord ^ablessed Obed-edom and all his household.

The Ark Is Brought to Jerusalem

¹²Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, on account of the ark of God.” ^aDavid went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into ^bthe city of David with gladness.

¹³And so it was, that when the ^abearers of the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ^box and a fatling.

¹⁴And ^aDavid was dancing before the Lord with all his might, and David was ^1bwearing a linen ephod.

¹⁵So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

¹⁶Then it happened as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David that ^aMichal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷So they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it ^ain its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and ^bDavid offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

¹⁸When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offering, ^ahe blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.

¹⁹Further, he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women, a cake of bread and one of dates and one of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed each to his house.

²⁰But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! ^aHe uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants’ maids as one of the ^bfoolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!”

²¹So David said to Michal, “^aIt was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the Lord.

²²“I will be more lightly esteemed than this and will be humble in my own eyes, but with the maids of whom you have spoken, with them I will be distinguished.”

²³Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.