1 Chronicles 15

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, Uriʹel the chief, with a hundred and twenty of his brethren; ⁶of the sons of Merarʹi, Asaiʹah the chief, with two hundred and twenty of his brethren; ⁷of the sons of Gershom, Joʹel the chief, with a hundred and thirty of his brethren; ⁸of the sons of Eli-zaʹphan, Shemaiʹah the chief, with two hundred of his brethren; ⁹of the sons of Hebron, Eliʹel the chief, with eighty of his brethren; ¹⁰of the sons of Uzʹziel, Amminʹadab the chief, with a hundred and twelve of his brethren. ¹¹Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiʹathar, and the Levites Uriʹel, Asaiʹah, Joʹel, Shemaiʹah, Eliʹel, and Amminʹadab, 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 Joʹel; and of his brethren Asaph the son of Berechiʹah; and of the sons of Merarʹi, their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaʹiah; ¹⁸and with them their brethren of the second order, Zechariʹah, Ja-aʹziel, Shemiʹramoth, Jehiʹel, Unni, Eliʹab, Benaiʹah, Ma-aseiʹah, Mattithiʹah, Eliphʹelehu, and Mikneʹiah, and the gatekeepers Oʹbed-eʹdom and Je-iʹel. ¹⁹The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; ²⁰Zechariʹah, Aʹzi-el, Shemiʹramoth, Jehiʹel, Unni, Eliʹab, Ma-aseiʹah, and Benaiʹah were to play harps according to Alʹamoth; ²¹but Mattithiʹah, Eliphʹelehu, Mikneʹiah, Oʹbed-eʹdom, Je-iʹel, and Azaziʹah were to lead with lyres according to the Shemʹinith. ²²Chenaniʹah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. ²³Berechiʹah and Elkaʹnah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. ²⁴Shebaniʹah, Joshʹaphat, Nethanʹel, Amaʹsai, Zechariʹah, Benaiʹah, and Elieʹzer, the priests, should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Oʹbed-eʹdom and Jehiʹah 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 Oʹbed-eʹdom 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 Chenaniʹah 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.