 1 And David made houses for himself in the City of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. 2 Then David said, No one ought to carry the ark of God except the Levites, for God has chosen them to carry the ark of God, and to minister to Him forever. 3 David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place that He had prepared for it. 4 David gathered the children of Aaron and the Levites. 5 From the sons of Kohath: Uriel the chief and 120 of his brothers. 6 From the sons of Merari: Asaiah the chief and 220 of his brothers. 7 From the sons of Gershom: Joel the chief and 130 of his brothers. 8 From the sons of Elizaphan: Shemaiah the chief and 200 of his brothers. 9 From the sons of Hebron: Eliel the chief and 80 of his brothers. 10 From the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab the chief and 112 of his brothers. 11 David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, You are the heads of the fathers of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it. 13 For because you did not do it at the first, the Lord our God made a break on us, since we did not seek Him in due order. 14 The priests and the Levites made themselves pure in order to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. 15 The children of the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders, with the staves on it, as Moses commanded according to the Word of the Lord. 16 David spoke to the chief of the Levites to choose their brothers to be the singers with instruments of music, lyres, and harps, and cymbals, sounding by lifting the voice with joy. 17 The Levites chose Heman the son of Joel, and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah. And from the sons of Merari their brothers, was Ethan the son of Kushaiah. 18 With them were their brothers of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers. 19 The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were chosen to sound with cymbals of bronze; 20 and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps set to Alamoth. 21 Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, were to lead with lyres on the octave. 22 Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was for song. He instructed about the song, because he was skillful. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew with the trumpets before the ark of God. And Obededom and Jehiah were gatekeepers for the ark. 25 Then David and the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy. 26 As God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they offered seven bulls and seven rams. 27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites who carried the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers. David also had on him an ephod of linen. 28 All Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting and with sound of the ram's horn and with trumpets and cymbals, making loud music+ with strings+ and harps. 29 It happened as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the City of David, Michal the daughter of Saul, looking out a window, saw King David dancing and playing. And she despised him in her heart.
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