1 Chronicles 15

Preparing to Bring the Ark

1David made houses for himself in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. 2Then David said, “No one may carry the ark of God except the Levites, for Yahweh chose them to carry the ark of Yahweh and to minister to him forever.” 3David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Yahweh to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4David gathered the descendants of Aaron and the Levites: 5of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and his kinsmen, a hundred twenty; 6of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and his kinsmen, two hundred twenty; 7of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and his kinsmen, a hundred thirty; 8of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and his kinsmen, two hundred; 9of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and his kinsmen, eighty; 10of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and his kinsmen, a hundred twelve. 11David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, 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. Consecrate yourselves, you and your kinsmen, and bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. 13Because you were not there the first time, Yahweh our God broke out against us, for 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. 15The descendants of the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of Yahweh.

The Singers and Musicians

16David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their kinsmen the singers, with instruments of music — harps, lyres, and cymbals — to raise their voices in joyful sound. 17So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; and of his kinsmen, Asaph son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their kinsmen, Ethan son of Kushaiah; 18and with them their kinsmen of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and Obed-edom and Jeiel, the gatekeepers. 19The singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound bronze cymbals; 20Zechariah, 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. 22Chenaniah, chief of the Levites in the music, was to direct the music, for he was skilled in it. 23Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. 24Shebaniah, 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.

The Ark Comes to Jerusalem

25So David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing. 26And because God helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who carried the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah, the leader of the music of the singers; and David wore a linen ephod as well. 28So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh with shouting, with the sound of the horn, with trumpets and cymbals, sounding harps and lyres. 29As the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came to the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked down through the window, and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.