The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

6 ^(A)David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. ² And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from ^(B)Baale-judah ^(C)to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts ^(D)who sits enthroned on the cherubim. ³ And they carried the ark of God ^(E)on a new cart and brought it ^(F)out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio,^[a] the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, ⁴ with the ark of God,^[b] and Ahio went before the ark.

Uzzah and the Ark

⁵ And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with ^(G)songs^[c] and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. ⁶ And when they came to the threshing floor of ^(H)Nacon, Uzzah ^(I)put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and ^(J)God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. ⁸ And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah^[d] to this day. ⁹ And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰ So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside ^(K)to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹ And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, ^(L)and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

¹² And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” ^(M)So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom ^(N)to the city of David with rejoicing. ¹³ And when ^(O)those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, ^(P)he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. ¹⁴ And David ^(Q)danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was ^(R)wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁵ So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.

David and Michal

¹⁶ As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. ¹⁷ And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it ^(S)in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. ^(T)And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, ^(U)he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts ¹⁹ and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat,^[e] and a cake of raisins to each one. ^(V)Then all the people departed, each to his house.

The Ark Brought from Kiriath-Jearim

13 David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader. ² And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers ^(A)who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us. ³ Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, ^(B)for we did not seek it^[a] in the days of Saul.” ⁴ All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

Uzzah and the Ark

^5 (C)So David assembled all Israel ^(D)from the ^(E)Nile^[b] of Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God ^(F)from Kiriath-jearim. ^6 (G)And David and all Israel went up to ^(H)Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord who ^(I)sits enthroned above the cherubim. ⁷ And they carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of ^(J)Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio^[c] were driving the cart. ⁸ And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with song and ^(K)lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.

⁹ And when they came to the threshing floor of ^(L)Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. ¹⁰ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down ^(M)because he put out his hand to the ark, and ^(N)he died there before God. ¹¹ And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza^[d] to this day. ¹² And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” ¹³ So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house ^(O)of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹⁴ And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months. ^(P)And the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had.

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

15 David^[a] built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and ^(A)pitched a tent for it. ² Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry ^(B)the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever. ^3 (C)And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord ^(D)to its place, which he had prepared for it. ⁴ And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and ^(E)the Levites: ⁵ of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers; ⁶ of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his brothers; ⁷ of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his brothers; ⁸ of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his brothers; ⁹ of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his brothers; ¹⁰ of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his brothers. ¹¹ Then David summoned the priests ^(F)Zadok and ^(G)Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, ¹² and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. ^(H)Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(I)to the place that I have prepared for it. ^13 (J)Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.” ¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders ^(K)with the poles, ^(L)as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁶ David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on ^(M)musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. ¹⁷ So the Levites appointed ^(N)Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers ^(O)Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, ^(P)Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. ¹⁹ The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; ²⁰ Zechariah, ^(Q)Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to ^(R)Alamoth; ²¹ but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, ^(S)Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to ^(T)the Sheminith. ²² Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. ²³ Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. ²⁴ Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should ^(U)blow the trumpets before the ark of God. ^(V)Obed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.

^25 (W)So 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 ^(X)Obed-edom with rejoicing. ²⁶ And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed ^(Y)seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷ David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. ²⁸ So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, ^(Z)trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on ^(AA)harps and lyres.

²⁹ And 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 celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

The Ark Placed in a Tent

16 And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside ^(AB)the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ² And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord ³ and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat,^[b] and a cake of raisins.

^43 (A)Then all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household.