The Ark Brought to Jerusalem^(A)

15 David built houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, ^(B)and pitched a tent for it. ² Then David said, “No one may carry the ^(C)ark of God but the Levites, for ^(D)the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.” ³ And David ^(E)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 ^[a]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 ^(F)Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his brethren; ⁹ of the sons of ^(G)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 ^(H)Zadok and ^(I)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; ^[b]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 ^(J)because you did not do it the first time, ^(K)the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him ^[c]about the proper order.”

¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites ^[d]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 ^(L)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 ^(M)Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, ^(N)Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren, the sons of Merari, ^(O)Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their brethren of the second rank: Zechariah, ^[e]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, ^[f]Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to ^(P)Alamoth; ²¹ Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the ^(Q)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, ^(R)were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; and ^(S)Obed-Edom and Jehiah, doorkeepers for the ark.

²⁵ So ^(T)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 ^(U)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 (V)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, ^(W)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.

The Ark Placed in the Tabernacle^(X)

16 So ^(Y)they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ² And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, ^(Z)he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. ³ Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins.

⁴ And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to ^(AA)commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: ⁵ Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then ^(AB)Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals; ⁶ Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.

David’s Song of Thanksgiving^(AC)

⁷ On that day ^(AD)David ^(AE)first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the Lord:

And all ^(AU)the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

^18 (A)For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and ^(B)unrighteousness of men, who ^[a]suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because ^(C)what may be known of God is ^[b]manifest ^[c]in them, for ^(D)God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world ^(E)His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and ^[d]Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but ^(F)became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (G)Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the ^(H)incorruptible ^(I)God into an image made like ^[e]corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

^24 (J)Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, ^(K)to dishonor their bodies ^(L)among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged ^(M)the truth of God ^(N)for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to ^(O)vile passions. For even their ^[f]women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the ^[g]men, leaving the natural use of the ^[h]woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things ^(P)which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, ^[i]sexual immorality, wickedness, ^[j]covetousness, ^[k]maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ^31 [l]undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, ^[m]unforgiving, unmerciful; ³² who, ^(Q)knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things ^(R)are deserving of death, not only do the same but also ^(S)approve of those who practice them.

A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil