2 Samuel 6

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

6Again David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand. ²And ^aDavid arose and went with all the people who were with him from ¹Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called ²by the Name, the Lord of Hosts, ^bwho dwells between the cherubim. ³So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on ^cthe hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new ³cart. ⁴And they brought it out of ^dthe house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. ⁵Then David and all the house of Israel ^eplayed music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

⁶And when they came to ^fNachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his ^ghand to the ark of God and ⁴took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his ⁵error; and he died there by the ark of God. ⁸And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the place ⁶Perez Uzzah to this day.

^9hDavid was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰So David would not move the ark of the Lord with him into the ⁱCity of David; but David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the ^jGittite. ^11kThe ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord ^lblessed Obed-Edom and all his household.

¹²Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” ^mSo David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. ¹³And so it was, when ⁿthose bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, that he sacrificed ^ooxen and fatted sheep. ¹⁴Then David ^pdanced ⁷before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing ^qa linen ephod. ^15rSo David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

¹⁶Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, ^sMichal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. ¹⁷So ^tthey brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in ^uits place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David ^voffered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, ^whe blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. ^19xThen he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, everyone to his house.

^20yThen David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, ^zuncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the ^abase fellows ⁸shamelessly uncovers himself!”

²¹So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, ^bwho chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the ^cpeople of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. ²²And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.”

²³Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children ^dto the day of her death.