Peril in Moving the Ark

6 ^(A)Now 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 to ^[a](B)Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the ^(C)Name, the very name of the Lord of hosts who ^(D)is ^[b]enthroned above the cherubim. ³ They ^[c]placed the ark of God on ^(E)a new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart. ⁴ So ^(F)they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark. ⁵ Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel ^(G)were celebrating before the Lord ^(H)with all kinds of instruments made of ^[d]fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals.

⁶ But when they came to the ^(I)threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah ^(J)reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. ⁷ And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and ^(K)God struck him down there for ^[e]his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God. ⁸ David became angry because ^[f]of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, and that place is called ^[g]Perez-uzzah to this day. ⁹ So ^(L)David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰ And David was unwilling to move the ark of the Lord into the city of David with him; but David took it aside to the house of ^(M)Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹ Thus the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord ^(N)blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

The Ark Is Brought to Jerusalem

¹² Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, on account of the ark of God.” ^(O)David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into ^(P)the city of David with gladness. ¹³ And so it was, that when the ^(Q)bearers of the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ^(R)ox and a fatling. ¹⁴ And ^(S)David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, and David was ^[h](T)wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁵ So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

¹⁶ Then it happened as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David that ^(U)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 So they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it ^(V)in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and ^(W)David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offering, ^(X)he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. ¹⁹ Further, he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women, a cake of bread and one of dates and one of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed each to his house.

²⁰ But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! ^(Y)He uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants’ maids as one of the ^(Z)foolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!” ²¹ So David said to Michal, “^(AA)It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the Lord. ²² I will be more lightly esteemed than this and will be humble in my own eyes, but with the maids of whom you have spoken, with them I will be distinguished.” ²³ Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

Christian Order

11 ^(A)Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

² Now ^(B)I praise you because you ^(C)remember me in everything and ^(D)hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. ³ But I want you to understand that ^[a]Christ is the ^(E)head of every man, and ^(F)the man is the head of a woman, and God is the ^(G)head of ^[b]Christ. ⁴ Every man who has something on his head while praying or ^(H)prophesying disgraces his head. ⁵ But every ^(I)woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman ^[c]whose head is ^(J)shaved. ⁶ For if a woman does not cover ^[d]her head, let her also ^[e]have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to ^[f]have her hair cut off or ^[g]her head shaved, let her cover ^[h]her head. ⁷ For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the ^(K)image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. ⁸ For ^(L)man ^[i]does not originate from woman, but woman from man; ⁹ for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but ^(M)woman for the man’s sake. ¹⁰ Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. ¹¹ However, in the Lord, neither is woman ^[j]independent of man, nor is man ^[k]independent of woman. ¹² For as the woman ^[l]originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and ^(N)all things ^[m]originate ^(O)from God. ^13 (P)Judge ^[n]for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴ Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, ¹⁵ but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering. ¹⁶ But if one is inclined to be contentious, ^(Q)we have no ^[o]other practice, nor have ^(R)the churches of God.

¹⁷ But in giving this instruction, ^(S)I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸ For, in the first place, when you come together ^[p]as a church, I hear that ^[q](T)divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. ¹⁹ For there ^(U)must also be factions among you, ^(V)so that those who are approved may become ^[r]evident among you. ²⁰ Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, ²¹ for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and ^(W)another is drunk. ²² What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the ^(X)church of God and ^(Y)shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall ^(Z)I praise you? In this I will not praise you.

The Lord’s Supper

²³ For ^(AA)I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that ^(AB)the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same way He took ^(AC)the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the ^(AD)new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death ^(AE)until He comes.

²⁷ Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be ^(AF)guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. ²⁸ But a man must ^(AG)examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. ³⁰ For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number ^[s](AH)sleep. ³¹ But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged, we are ^(AI)disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with ^(AJ)the world.

³³ So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. ³⁴ If anyone is ^(AK)hungry, let him eat ^(AL)at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will ^(AM)arrange ^(AN)when I come.

The Use of Spiritual Gifts

12 Now concerning ^(AO)spiritual gifts, brethren, ^(AP)I do not want you to be unaware. ^2 (AQ)You know that when you were pagans, you were ^(AR)led astray to the ^(AS)mute idols, however you were led. ³ Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking ^[t](AT)by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is ^[u](AU)accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is ^(AV)Lord,” except ^[v](AW)by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ Now there are ^(AX)varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. ⁶ There are varieties of effects, but the same ^(AY)God who works all things in all persons. ⁷ But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit ^(AZ)for the common good. ⁸ For to one is given the word of ^(BA)wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of ^(BB)knowledge according to the same Spirit; ⁹ to another ^(BC)faith ^[w]by the same Spirit, and to another ^(BD)gifts of ^[x]healing ^[y]by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ and to another the ^[z]effecting of ^[aa](BE)miracles, and to another ^(BF)prophecy, and to another the ^[ab](BG)distinguishing of spirits, to another various ^(BH)kinds of tongues, and to another the ^(BI)interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ But one and the same Spirit works all these things, ^(BJ)distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

¹² For even ^(BK)as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, ^(BL)so also is Christ. ¹³ For ^[ac](BM)by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether ^(BN)Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to ^(BO)drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ For ^(BP)the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason ^[ad]any the less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason ^[ae]any the less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But now God has ^(BQ)placed the members, each one of them, in the body, ^(BR)just as He desired. ¹⁹ If they were all one member, where would the body be? ²⁰ But now ^(BS)there are many members, but one body. ²¹ And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, ^[af]it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; ²³ and those members of the body which we ^[ag]deem less honorable, ^[ah]on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, ²⁴ whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, ²⁵ so that there may be no ^[ai]division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is ^[aj]honored, all the members rejoice with it.

²⁷ Now you are ^(BT)Christ’s body, and ^(BU)individually members of it. ²⁸ And God has ^[ak](BV)appointed in ^(BW)the church, first ^(BX)apostles, second ^(BY)prophets, third ^(BZ)teachers, then ^[al](CA)miracles, then ^(CB)gifts of healings, helps, ^(CC)administrations, various ^(CD)kinds of tongues. ²⁹ All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of ^[am]miracles, are they? ³⁰ All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not ^(CE)interpret, do they? ³¹ But ^(CF)earnestly desire the greater gifts.

And I show you a still more excellent way.

Prayer for Help against Persecutors.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.