1 Chronicles 15

New King James Version

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem^(A)

15 Davidbuilt houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God,^(B)and pitched a tent for it.² Then David said, “No one may carry the^(C)ark of God but the Levites, for^(D)theLordhas chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.”³ And David^(E)gathered all Israel together at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of theLordto its place, which he had prepared for it.⁴ Then David assembled the children of Aaron and the Levites:⁵ of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and one hundred and twenty of his^[a]brethren;⁶ of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and two hundred and twenty of his brethren;⁷ of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and one hundred and thirty of his brethren;⁸ of the sons of^(F)Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his brethren;⁹ of the sons of^(G)Hebron, Eliel the chief, and eighty of his brethren;¹⁰ of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and one hundred and twelve of his brethren.

¹¹ And David called for^(H)Zadok and^(I)Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.¹² He said to them, “Youarethe heads of the fathers’housesof the Levites;^[b]sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of theLordGod of Israel tothe placeI have prepared for it.¹³ For^(J)because youdidnotdo itthe firsttime,^(K)theLordour God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him^[c]about the proper order.”

¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites^[d]sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of theLordGod of Israel.¹⁵ And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as^(L)Moses had commanded according to the word of theLord.

¹⁶ Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethrento bethe singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy.¹⁷ So the Levites appointed^(M)Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren,^(N)Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren, the sons of Merari,^(O)Ethan the son of Kushaiah;¹⁸ and with them their brethren of the secondrank:Zechariah,^[e]Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers;¹⁹ the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan,wereto sound the cymbals of bronze;²⁰ Zechariah,^[f]Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to^(P)Alamoth;²¹ Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the^(Q)Sheminith;²² Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was instructorin charge ofthe music, because hewasskillful;²³ Berechiah and Elkanahweredoorkeepers for the ark;²⁴ Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests,^(R)were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; and^(S)Obed-Edom and Jehiah, doorkeepers for the ark.

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

²⁹ And it happened,^(W)asthe ark of the covenant of theLordcame 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.