1 Chronicles 15:16–16:6

¹⁶Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy. ¹⁷So the Levites appointed ^lHeman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, ^mAsaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren, the sons of Merari, ⁿEthan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸and with them their brethren of the second rank: Zechariah, ⁵Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers; ¹⁹the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound the cymbals of bronze; ²⁰Zechariah, ⁶Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to ^oAlamoth; ²¹Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the ^pSheminith; ²²Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was instructor in charge of the music, because he was skillful; ²³Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark; ²⁴Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, ^qwere to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; and ^rObed-Edom and Jehiah, doorkeepers for the ark.

²⁵So ^sDavid, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with joy. ²⁶And so it was, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷David was clothed with a robe of fine ^tlinen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. ^28uThus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets and with cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps.

²⁹And it happened, ^vas the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the City of David, that Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David whirling and playing music; and she despised him in her heart.

The Ark Placed in the Tabernacle

16So ^athey brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ²And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, ^bhe blessed the people in the name of the Lord. ³Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins.

⁴And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to ^ccommemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: ⁵Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then ^dJeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals; ⁶Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.