¹David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. ²Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him for ever.” ³And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it. ⁴And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: ⁵of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with a hundred and twenty of his brethren; ⁶of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with two hundred and twenty of his brethren; ⁷of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with a hundred and thirty of his brethren; ⁸of the sons of Eli-zaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with two hundred of his brethren; ⁹of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with eighty of his brethren; ¹⁰of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with a hundred and twelve of his brethren. ¹¹Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, ¹²and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. ¹³Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke forth upon us, because we did not care for it in the way that is ordained.” ¹⁴So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵And the Levites carried the ark of God upon their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁶David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brethren as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. ¹⁷So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸and with them their brethren of the second order, Zechariah, Ja-aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Ma-aseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Je-iel. ¹⁹The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; ²⁰Zechariah, Azi-el, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Ma-aseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth; ²¹but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Je-iel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith. ²²Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. ²³Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. ²⁴Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were to be gatekeepers for the ark.

²⁵So David and the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing. ²⁶And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers; and David wore a linen ephod. ²⁸So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.

²⁹And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David dancing and making merry; and she despised him in her heart.

Chapter 16

¹And they brought the ark of God, and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ²And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord, ³and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.

⁴Moreover he appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁵Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Je-iel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Je-iel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, ⁶and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets continually, before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brethren.

⁸O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,

make known his deeds among the peoples!

⁹Sing to him, sing praises to him,

tell of all his wonderful works!

¹⁰Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

¹¹Seek the Lord and his strength,

seek his presence continually!

¹²Remember the wonderful works that he has done,

the wonders he wrought, the judgments he uttered,

¹³O offspring of Abraham his servant,

sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!

¹⁴He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

¹⁵He is mindful of his covenant for ever,

of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

¹⁶the covenant which he made with Abraham,

his sworn promise to Isaac,

¹⁷which he confirmed as a statute to Jacob,

as an everlasting covenant to Israel,

¹⁸saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,

as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹⁹When they were few in number,

and of little account, and sojourners in it,

²⁰wandering from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another people,

²¹he allowed no one to oppress them;

he rebuked kings on their account,

²²saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,

do my prophets no harm!”

²³Sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Tell of his salvation from day to day.

²⁴Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples!

²⁵For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

and he is to be held in awe above all gods.

²⁶For all the gods of the peoples are idols;

but the Lord made the heavens.

²⁷Honor and majesty are before him;

strength and joy are in his place.

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

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!

²⁹Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

bring an offering, and come before him!

Worship the Lord in holy array;

³⁰tremble before him, all the earth;

yea, the world stands firm, never to be moved.

³¹Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,

and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”

³²Let the sea roar, and all that fills it,

let the field exult, and everything in it!

³³Then shall the trees of the wood sing for joy

before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.

³⁴O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures for ever!

³⁵Say also:

“Deliver us, O God of our salvation,

and gather and save us from among the nations,

that we may give thanks to thy holy name,

and glory in thy praise.

³⁶Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!”

Then all the people said “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

³⁷So David left Asaph and his brethren there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister continually before the ark as each day required, ³⁸and also Obed-edom and his sixty-eight brethren; while Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to be gatekeepers. ³⁹And he left Zadok the priest and his brethren the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon, ⁴⁰to offer burnt offerings to the Lord upon the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, according to all that is written in the law of the Lord which he commanded Israel. ⁴¹With them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures for ever. ⁴²Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.

⁴³Then all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household.

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