1 Chronicles 14-15

New King James Version

David Established at Jerusalem^(A)

14 Now ^(B)Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, with masons and carpenters, to build him a house. ² So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, for his kingdom was ^(C)highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel.

³ Then David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David begot more sons and daughters. ⁴ And ^(D)these are the names of his children whom he had in Jerusalem: ^[a]Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, ^[b]Elishua, ^[c]Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, ^[d]Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

The Philistines Defeated^(E)

⁸ Now when the Philistines heard that ^(F)David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went out against them. ⁹ Then the Philistines went and made a raid ^(G)on the Valley of ^[e]Rephaim. ¹⁰ And David ^(H)inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”

The Lord said to him, “Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand.”

¹¹ So they went up to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there. Then David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore they called the name of that place ^[f]Baal Perazim. ¹² And when they left their gods there, David gave a commandment, and they were burned with fire.

^13 (I)Then the Philistines once again made a raid on the valley. ¹⁴ Therefore David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around them, ^(J)and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. ¹⁵ And it shall be, when you hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” ¹⁶ So David did as God commanded him, and they drove back the army of the Philistines from ^[g]Gibeon as far as Gezer. ¹⁷ Then ^(K)the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord ^(L)brought the fear of him upon all nations.

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem^(M)

15 David built houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, ^(N)and pitched a tent for it. ² Then David said, “No one may carry the ^(O)ark of God but the Levites, for ^(P)the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.” ³ And David ^(Q)gathered all Israel together at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to 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 ^[h]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 ^(R)Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his brethren; ⁹ of the sons of ^(S)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 ^(T)Zadok and ^(U)Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. ¹² He said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; ^[i]sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. ¹³ For ^(V)because you did not do it the first time, ^(W)the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him ^[j]about the proper order.”

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

¹⁶ Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy. ¹⁷ So the Levites appointed ^(Y)Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, ^(Z)Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren, the sons of Merari, ^(AA)Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their brethren of the second rank: Zechariah, ^[l]Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers; ¹⁹ the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound the cymbals of bronze; ²⁰ Zechariah, ^[m]Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to ^(AB)Alamoth; ²¹ Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the ^(AC)Sheminith; ²² Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was instructor in charge of the music, because he was skillful; ²³ Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark; ²⁴ Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, ^(AD)were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; and ^(AE)Obed-Edom and Jehiah, doorkeepers for the ark.

²⁵ So ^(AF)David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from 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 the Lord, that they offered seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷ David was clothed with a robe of fine ^(AG)linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. ^28 (AH)Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets and with cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps.

²⁹ And it happened, ^(AI)as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came 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.