1 Chronicles 15:1-15

English Standard Version

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.