Beginning

15 ¶ And David made houses for himself in the city of David and prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

² Then David said, The ark of God should not be brought except by the Levites, for the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister unto him perpetually.

³ And David gathered all Israel together in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD unto its place, which he had prepared for it.

⁴ And David assembled the sons of Aaron and the Levites:

⁵ of the sons of Kohath: Uriel, the chief, and his brethren, one hundred and twenty;

⁶ of the sons of Merari: Asaiah, the chief and his brethren, two hundred and twenty;

⁷ of the sons of Gershon: Joel, the chief, and his brethren one hundred and thirty;

⁸ of the sons of Elizaphan: Shemaiah, the chief, and his brethren, two hundred;

⁹ of the sons of Hebron: Eliel, the chief and his brethren, eighty;

¹⁰ of the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab, the chief, and his brethren, one hundred and twelve.

¹¹ And David also called for Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab

¹² and said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers among the Levites; sanctify yourselves and your brethren and bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it,

¹³ for because ye did not do it thus at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us because we did not seek him according to his ordinance.

¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel.

¹⁵ And the sons of the Levites bore the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD.

¹⁶ And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint of their brethren as singers with instruments of music, with psalteries and harps and cymbals sounding, and to lift up their voice with joy.

¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman, the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph, the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari and of their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah,

¹⁸ and with them their brethren of the second order, Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obededom, and Jeiel, the porters.

¹⁹ So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, raised their voices with cymbals of brass;

²⁰ and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries on Alamoth.

²¹ And Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obededom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith to excel.

²² And Chenaniah, prince of the Levites in prophecy, for he presided in prophecy, because he had understanding.

²³ And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.

²⁴ And Shebaniah, Jehoshaphat, Nethaneel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the ark of God; and Obededom and Jehiah were also doorkeepers for the ark.

²⁵ ¶ So David and the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of Obededom with joy.

²⁶ And with God helping the Levites that bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bullocks and seven rams.

²⁷ And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and also all the Levites that bore the ark and the singers and Chenaniah, the prince of the prophecy of the singers. David also had upon him an ephod of linen.

²⁸ Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting and with sound of the shofar and with trumpets and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps.

²⁹ And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw King David dancing and playing, and she despised him in her heart.

16 ¶ So they brought the ark of God and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.

² And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD.

³ And he dealt to all Israel, both men and women, to each one a loaf of bread and a good piece of flesh and a flagon of wine.

⁴ And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD and to record and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:

⁵ Asaph, the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps, but Asaph resounded with cymbals;

⁶ and Benaiah and Jahaziel, the priests, with trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷ ¶ Then, on that day, David began to thank the LORD by the hand of Asaph and his brethren.

⁸ Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.

⁹ Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, speak of all his wondrous works.

¹⁰ Glory in his holy name; let the heart of those that seek the LORD rejoice.

¹¹ Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.

¹² Remember his marvellous works that he has done, his wonders and the judgments of his mouth;

¹³ O, ye seed of Israel, his slave, ye sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

¹⁴ He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

¹⁵ Be mindful always of his covenant, the word which he commanded in a thousand generations,

¹⁶ the covenant which he cut with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac;

¹⁷ which he confirmed unto Jacob by statute, and to Israel in everlasting covenant,

¹⁸ saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the cord of your inheritance,

¹⁹ when ye were but few in number, and strangers in it.

²⁰ And they went from nation to nation and from one kingdom to another people.

²¹ He would allow no one to oppress them; he reproved kings for their sakes,

²² saying, Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

²³ Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; show forth from day to day his saving health.

²⁴ Declare his glory among the Gentiles; his marvellous works among all peoples.

²⁵ For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he also is to be feared above all gods.

²⁶ For all the gods of the people are worthless, but the LORD made the heavens.

²⁷ Glory and beauty are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place.

²⁸ Give unto the LORD, ye families of the peoples, give unto the LORD glory and strength.

²⁹ Give unto the LORD the glory of his name; bring a present and come before him; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

³⁰ Fear before him, all the earth; the world also is being made stable, that it be not moved.

³¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; and let men say among the Gentiles, The LORD reigns.

³² Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein.

³³ Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because he comes to judge the earth.

³⁴ O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good; for his mercy is eternal.

³⁵ And say, Save us, O God our saving health, and gather us together and deliver us from the Gentiles, that we may give thanks to thy holy name and glory in thy praise.

³⁶ Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from eternity unto eternity. And all the people said, Amen and praised the LORD.

³⁷ ¶ So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD Asaph and his brethren to minister before the ark continually, each thing in its day;

³⁸ and Obededom with their brethren, sixty-eight; Obededom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be porters.

³⁹ And Zadok, the priest, and his brethren, the priests, before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon,

⁴⁰ to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD upon the altar of the burnt offering continually morning and evening, according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which he commanded Israel;

⁴¹ and with them Heman and Jeduthun and the rest that were chosen expressly by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because his mercy is eternal.

⁴² And with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals to sound, and with other musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were porters.

⁴³ And all the people departed each one to his house; and David returned to bless his house.

17 ¶ Now it came to pass, as David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan, the prophet, Behold, I dwell in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD under curtains.

² Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thy heart for God is with thee.

³ And it came to pass the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

⁴ Go and tell David my slave, Thus hath the LORD said, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in,

⁵ for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

⁶ Wherever I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me a house of cedars?

⁷ Now, therefore, thus shalt thou say unto my slave David, Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, I took thee from the sheepfold, from following the sheep that thou should be ruler over my people Israel;

⁸ and I have been with thee wherever thou hast walked and have cut off all thy enemies from before thee and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.

⁹ Likewise I have ordained a place for my people Israel and have planted him that he dwell by himself and no longer be moved; neither shall the sons of iniquity waste them any more, as before,

¹⁰ since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I have humbled all thy enemies and announce unto thee that the LORD will build thee a house.

¹¹ And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled to go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

¹² He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne eternally.

¹³ I will be his father, and he shall be my son; and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee;

¹⁴ but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom for ever, and his throne shall be established for evermore.

¹⁵ According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

¹⁶ ¶ And David, the king, came and sat before the LORD and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me here?

¹⁷ And yet this was a small thing in thy eyes, O God, for thou hast also spoken of thy slave’s house for a great while to come and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.

¹⁸ What more can David add asking thee to glorify thy slave? For thou knowest thy slave.

¹⁹ O LORD, for thy slave’s sake and according to thy own heart, thou hast done all this greatness, in making known all thy great things.

²⁰ O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²¹ And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to ransom to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out the Gentiles from before thy people, whom thou didst redeem out of Egypt?

²² For thy people Israel didst thou make thy own people for ever, and thou, LORD, didst become their God.

²³ Therefore, now, LORD, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy slave and concerning his house be established for ever and do as thou hast said.

²⁴ Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, that it may be said, The LORD of the hosts, God of Israel, is God unto Israel; and let the house of David thy slave be established before thee.

²⁵ For thou, O my God, hast told thy slave that thou wilt build him a house; therefore, thy slave has found in his heart to pray before thee.

²⁶ And now, LORD, thou art God and hast promised this goodness unto thy slave;

²⁷ now it has pleased thee to bless the house of thy slave, that it may be before thee for ever; for thou, O LORD, hast blessed it, and it shall be blessed for ever.