Peril in Moving the Ark

6 ^(A)Now David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. ² And David ^[a]departed from ^[b](B)Baale-judah, with all the people who were with him, to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the ^(C)Name, the very name of the Lord of armies who ^(D)is ^[c]enthroned above the cherubim. ³ They had mounted the ark of God on ^(E)a new cart and moved 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 juniper wood, and with ^[d]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, because the oxen nearly overturned 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 Then David became angry because ^[f]of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah; and that place has been 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 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord ^(N)blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

The Ark Is Brought to Jerusalem

¹² Now it was reported to 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)So David went and brought the ark of God up from the house of Obed-edom to ^(P)the city of David with joy.