Beginning
The Ark Brought to Jerusalem(A)
15 So David built houses for himself in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. 2 Then David said, “No one may carry the ark of God except the Levites since the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him always.”
3 David assembled all Israel to Jerusalem in order to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it. 4 And David gathered representatives of the sons of Aaron and the Levites, as follows:
5 from the sons of Kohath,
Uriel the leader and one hundred and twenty of his brothers;
6 from the sons of Merari,
Asaiah the leader and two hundred and twenty of his brothers;
7 from the sons of Gershom,
Joel the leader and one hundred and thirty of his brothers;
8 from the sons of Elizaphan,
Shemaiah the leader and two hundred of his brothers;
9 from the sons of Hebron,
Eliel the leader and eighty of his brothers;
10 from the sons of Uzziel,
Amminadab the leader and one hundred and twelve of his brothers.
11 Then David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests and for the Levites: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, “You are the captains of the fathers’ houses for the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it 13 because on the first attempt without you the Lord struck out against us since we did not seek Him properly.” 14 So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 The sons of the Levites lifted up the ark of God just as Moses commanded, with the poles on their shoulders, according to the word of the Lord.
16 Then David told the leaders of the Levites to position their brothers the singers with musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals to resound with joyful songs.
17 So the Levites placed Heman the son of Joel, and from his brothers, Asaph the son of Berekiah, and from their brothers the sons of Merari, Ethan the son of Kushaiah, 18 and with them their brothers of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.
19 So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were directed to sound cymbals of brass. 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to accompany with harps on Alamoth. 21 Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres on the Sheminith. 22 Kenaniah, leader of the Levites, was to conduct the music because he was skillful.
23 Berekiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were assigned to sound trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were gatekeepers for the ark.
25 So David, the elders of Israel, and the leaders of the thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with rejoicing. 26 Since God helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 Now David was clothed in a fine linen robe, as were the Levites who carried the ark, the singers, and Kenaniah, the conductor of singing and singers. David himself wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with a shout and with the sound of the ram’s horn and with trumpets and cymbals, making music on harps and lyres.
29 Now as the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal the daughter of Saul was looking down from the window, and when she saw King David dancing and spinning, she despised him in her heart.
The Ark Set in the Tent
16 So they brought in the ark of God, placed it in the midst of the tent that David had erected for it, and drew near to God with burnt offerings and peace offerings. 2 When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3 Then he distributed to all the children of Israel, both men and women, a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a raisin cake for each.
4 And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: 5 Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with the cymbals. 6 Moreover, Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests sounded trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.
David’s Psalm of Thanksgiving(B)
7 On that day then, David delivered for the first time this psalm of thanksgiving to the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brothers:
8 Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name;
make known His deeds among the peoples.
9 Sing to Him, sing praise to Him,
recount all His wonders.
10 Glory in His holy name;
let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
11 Seek the Lord and His strength;
seek His face continually.
12 Remember His wonders which He has done,
His wonders and the judgments of His mouth,
13 O seed of Israel, His servant,
O sons of Jacob, His chosen.
14 He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
15 Remember His covenant forever,
the word He commanded for a thousand generations,
16 that He made with Abraham,
even His oath to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
18 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
19 When you were few in number,
few indeed, and strangers there,
20 when they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another,
21 He allowed no man to oppress them;
He rebuked kings on their account,
22 saying, “Do not touch My anointed,
and do My prophets no harm.”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
24 Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all the peoples.
25 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.
He is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
27 Honor and majesty are before Him;
strength and joy are in His place.
28 Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
give to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
bring an offering and come before Him,
bow down to the Lord in holy array.
30 Tremble before Him, all the earth.
The world also is firmly established; it shall not be moved.
31 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad.
Let them say among the nations, “The Lord is King.”
32 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness.
Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.
33 Then the trees of the forest will ring out before the Lord,
for He is coming to judge the earth.
34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for His mercy endures forever.
35 Now say, “Save us, O God of our salvation,
and gather us and deliver us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to Your holy name,
to glory in Your praise.
36 Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.”
Then all the people said, “Amen,” and “Praise the Lord.”
Worship Before the Ark
37 So he left Asaph and his brothers before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark regularly, as each day required, 38 and also Obed-Edom and his sixty-eight brothers, while Obed-Edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to be gatekeepers.
39 And he left Zadok the priest and his priestly brothers before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place that was at Gibeon 40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering continually, morning and evening, according to all that was written in the Law of the Lord, which He commanded Israel.
41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest who were chosen, who were marked by name to give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy endures forever. 42 Heman and Jeduthun had with them trumpets and cymbals to sound aloud and instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.
43 Then all the people departed, each man to his house, and David returned to bless his house.
The Davidic Covenant(C)
17 Now it happened as David dwelt in his house that he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am dwelling in a house of cedar while the ark of the Lord is under curtains.”
2 So Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
3 But it happened on that same night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,
4 Go and tell David My servant: Thus says the Lord: You will not build a house for Me to dwell in, 5 for I have not dwelt in a house since the day when I brought Israel up even until this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from tabernacle to tabernacle. 6 Wherever I have gone in all Israel, have I ever spoken a word to the any of the judges of Israel that I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?
7 And now say this to My servant David: Thus says the Lord of Hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following after the flock, to be ruler over My people Israel, 8 and I have been with you wherever you went, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Also I will make your name like the names of the greatest on earth. 9 And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and I will plant them there where they will dwell securely and tremble no more, so that the sons of wickedness will not oppress them just as before 10 from the time when I commanded the judges of My people Israel. I will subdue all your enemies.
And I declare to you the Lord will build a house for you. 11 Then it will be when your days are full and you go to your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you from your own sons. His kingdom I will establish. 12 He is the one who will build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. I will not take away My favor from him as I did from the one who was before you. 14 I will assign him a place in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established for all time.
15 Thus, Nathan spoke to David all these words and according to all this vision.
The Prayer of David(D)
16 Then King David came and sat before the Lord, and he said,
“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? 17 This was something small in Your eyes, God, but You have spoken concerning the house of Your servant for a great while to come and have regarded me with the status of a great man, O Lord God.
18 “What more can David speak to You for the honor of Your servant? For You know Your servant. 19 O Lord, for the sake of Your servant and according to Your own heart You have done all these great things and made known all these great things.
20 “O Lord, there is none like You, and there is no god besides You as we have heard with our ears. 21 Who is like Your people Israel, a nation on earth whom God has redeemed for Himself as a people to make for Yourself a great name by great and awesome deeds in driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt? 22 For You made Your people Israel for Yourself for a people forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God.
23 “And now, Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it endure forever and do just as You have spoken. 24 Let Your name endure and be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God to Israel.’ And let the house of David Your servant be established before You.
25 “For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build a house for him. Therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You. 26 And now, O Lord, You are God, and You have promised this good word to Your servant. 27 Now, You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant that it may be forever before You. For You, O Lord, have blessed it, and it shall be blessed forever.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.