Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
1 Chronicles 15
David made houses for himself in the city of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.
Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites, for the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever.”
David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place, which he had prepared for it.
David gathered the descendants of Aaron and the Levites: from the descendants of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and one hundred twenty of his kindred; from the descendants of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and two hundred twenty of his kindred; from the descendants of Gershom, Joel the chief, and one hundred thirty of his kindred; from the descendants of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his kindred; from the descendants of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and eighty of his kindred; from the descendants of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and one hundred twelve of his kindred.
David called Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. He said to them, “You are the heads of the ancestral houses of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, you and your kindred, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. Because you were not there at the first, the LORD our God broke out against us, for we did not seek him according to the ordinance.” So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. The Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles upon them, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD.
David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their kindred, the singers, with instruments of song—harps, lyres, and cymbals—to raise sounds of joy. So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; and from his kindred, Asaph son of Berechiah; and from the descendants of Merari, their kindred, Ethan son of Kushaiah; and with them their kindred of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphlehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers. The singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound bronze cymbals. Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to alamoth. Mattithiah, Eliphlehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to play lyres according to the eighth, to lead. Chenaniah, chief of the Levites for the carrying, directed the carrying, because he was skillful. Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. Shebaniah, Jehoshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests were sounding trumpets before the ark of God; and Obed-edom and Jehiah were gatekeepers for the ark.
David, 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 joy. And when God helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites carrying the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah, the leader of the carrying, among the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with a shout, with the sound of the ram’s horn, with trumpets and cymbals sounding, and with harps and lyres. As the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out through the window. She saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.