1And he made for himself houses 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 is to carry the ark of God except the Levites, for Yahweh has chosen them to carry the ark of Yahweh and to minister to him forever.”
3And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of Yahweh to its place, which he had prepared for it.
4And David gathered the sons of Aaron and the Levites:
5of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief and his brothers, one hundred and twenty;
6of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief and his brothers, two hundred and twenty;
7of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief and his brothers, one hundred and thirty;
8of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief and his brothers, two hundred;
9of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief and his brothers, eighty;
10of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief and his brothers, one hundred and twelve.
11And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites—for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab—
12and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, and bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.
13For because you were not present at the first, Yahweh our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the ordinance.”
14So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
15And the sons of the Levites carried the ark of God, as Moses had commanded according to the word of Yahweh, on their shoulders with the poles upon them.
16And David said to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers, the singers, with instruments of song—harps and lyres and cymbals—sounding out, lifting up the voice with joy.
17So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel, and from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan son of Kushaiah;
18and with them their brothers of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.
19So the singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound bronze cymbals;
20and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah with harps set to Alamoth;
21and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah with lyres set to the Sheminith, to lead.
22And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites in carrying, was to direct the carrying, for he was skilled.
23And Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.
24And Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; and Obed-edom and Jehiah were gatekeepers for the ark.
25So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands were those who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the house of Obed-edom with joy.
26And it happened, when God helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, that they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
27And David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who carried the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the chief of the carrying, with the singers; and David wore a linen ephod.
28So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh with shouting, and with the sound of the shofar, and with trumpets and cymbals, sounding out with harps and lyres.
29And it happened, as the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came to the City of David, that Michal daughter of Saul looked out through the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.
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