1 Chronicles 15:1-16:36

New American Standard Bible

Plans to Move the Ark to Jerusalem

15 Now David 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. ²Then David said, “^(B)No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve Him forever.” ³And ^(C)David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord ^(D)to its place which he had prepared for it. ⁴David gathered together the sons of Aaron and ^(E)the Levites: ⁵of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and 120 of his relatives; ⁶of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and 220 of his relatives; ⁷of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and 130 of his relatives; ⁸of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his relatives; ⁹of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and eighty of his relatives; ¹⁰of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and 112 of his relatives.

¹¹Then David called for the priests ^(F)Zadok and ^(G)Abiathar, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab; ¹²and he said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites; ^(H)consecrate yourselves, you and your relatives, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel ^(I)to the place that I have prepared for it. ¹³^(J)Because you did not carry it at the first, the Lord our God made an outburst against us, since we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.” ¹⁴^(K)So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁵The sons of ^(L)the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on them, just as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.

¹⁶Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites ^(M)to appoint their relatives as the singers, with musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals, playing to raise sounds of joy. ¹⁷So ^(N)the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and from his relatives, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah, ¹⁸and with them their relatives of the second rank, Zechariah, ^[a]Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers. ¹⁹So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of bronze; ²⁰and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps tuned to ^[b]^(O)alamoth; ²¹and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to lead with ^[c]lyres tuned to ^(P)the sheminith. ²²Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful. ²³Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. ²⁴Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, ^(Q)blew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were gatekeepers for the ark.

²⁵^(R)So it was David, with the elders of Israel and the captains of thousands, who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from ^(S)the house of Obed-edom with joy. ²⁶Because God was helping the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed ^(T)seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. ^(U)David also wore an ephod of linen. ²⁸So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps, and lyres.

²⁹When the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, ^(V)Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart.

A Tent for the Ark

16 And they brought in the ark of God and ^(W)placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ²When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. ³Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both men and women, to everyone a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a raisin cake.

⁴He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: ⁵Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then ^[d]Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, and lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals, ⁶and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷Then on that day David ^(X)first assigned ^[e]Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord.

Psalm of Thanksgiving

⁸^(Y)Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
^(Z)Make His deeds known among the peoples.
⁹Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
^[f]Speak of all His ^[g]wonders.
¹⁰Boast in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be joyful.
¹¹^(AA)Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
¹²^(AB)Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,
^(AC)His marvels and the judgments from His mouth,
¹³You ^[h]descendants of Israel His servant,
Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
¹⁴He is the Lord our God;
^(AD)His judgments are in all the earth.
¹⁵Remember His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
¹⁶^(AE)The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac.
¹⁷^(AF)He also confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹⁸Saying, “^(AG)To you I will give the land of Canaan,
As the portion of your inheritance.”
¹⁹^(AH)When they were only a few in number,
Very few, and strangers in it,
²⁰And they wandered from nation to nation,
And from one kingdom to another people,
²¹He allowed no one to oppress them,
And ^(AI)He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,
²²“Do not touch My anointed ones,
And ^(AJ)do not harm My prophets.”
²³^(AK)Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.
²⁴Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
²⁵For ^(AL)great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
He also is ^(AM)to be feared above all gods.
²⁶For all the gods of the peoples are ^[i]^(AN)idols,
^(AO)But the Lord made the heavens.
²⁷Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and joy are in His place.
²⁸Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
²⁹Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an ^[j]offering, and come before Him;
^(AP)Worship the Lord in ^[k]holy attire.
³⁰Tremble before Him, all the earth;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
³¹^[l]^(AQ)Let the heavens be joyful, and the earth rejoice;
And let them say among the nations, “^(AR)The Lord reigns.”
³²^(AS)Let the sea ^[m]roar, and ^[n]everything it contains;
Let the field rejoice, and everything that is in it.
³³Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy in the presence of the Lord;
For He is coming to judge the earth.
³⁴^(AT)Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His faithfulness is everlasting.
³⁵^(AU)Then say, “Save us, God of our salvation,
And gather us and save us from the nations,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
And ^[o]glory in Your praise.”
³⁶^(AV)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting!