The Daily Audio Bible
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The Ark Brought to Jerusalem
15 David[a] 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.(A) 2 Then David commanded that no one but the Levites were to carry the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever.(B) 3 David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it.(C) 4 Then David gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites: 5 of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with one hundred twenty of his kindred; 6 of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with two hundred twenty of his kindred; 7 of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with one hundred thirty of his kindred; 8 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with two hundred of his kindred;(D) 9 of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with eighty of his kindred;(E) 10 of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with one hundred twelve of his kindred.
11 David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.(F) 12 He said to them, “You are the heads of families of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your kindred, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.(G) 13 Because you did not carry it[b] the first time,[c] the Lord our God burst out against us because we did not give it proper care.”(H) 14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.(I) 15 And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.(J)
16 David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their kindred as singers to raise loud sounds of joy on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals.(K) 17 So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; and of his kindred Asaph son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their kindred, Ethan son of Kushaiah;(L) 18 and with them their kindred of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. 19 The singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound bronze cymbals; 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth, 21 but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith.[d] 22 Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, was to direct the music, for he understood it. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were to be gatekeepers for the ark.(M)
25 So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of the thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing.(N) 26 And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers, and David wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.(O)
29 As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing, and she despised him in her heart.(P)
The Ark Placed in the Tent
16 They brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before God.(Q) 2 When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord, 3 and he distributed to every person in Israel—man and woman alike—to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat,[e] and a cake of raisins.
4 He appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. 5 Asaph was the chief, and second to him was Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals,(R) 6 and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.
David’s Psalm of Thanksgiving
7 Then on that day David first appointed the singing of praises to the Lord by Asaph and his kindred.(S)
8 O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.(T)
9 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wonderful works.
10 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
11 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually.(U)
12 Remember the wonderful works he has done,
his miracles and the judgments he uttered,(V)
13 O offspring of his servant Israel,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
14 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.(W)
15 Remember his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,
16 the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,(X)
17 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,(Y)
18 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance.”
19 When they were few in number,
of little account, and strangers in the land,[f](Z)
20 wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
21 he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their account,(AA)
22 saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Tell of his salvation from day to day.(AB)
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
25 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.(AC)
26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.(AD)
27 Honor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.(AE)
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
30 tremble before him, all the earth.
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
and let them say among the nations, “The Lord is king!”(AF)
32 Let the sea roar and all that fills it;
let the field exult and everything in it.(AG)
33 Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
34 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.(AH)
35 Say also,
“Save us, O God of our salvation,
and gather and rescue us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.(AI)
36 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.”
Then all the people said “Amen!” and praised the Lord.(AJ)
The Guilt of Humankind
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of those who by their injustice suppress the truth.(A) 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been seen and understood through the things God has made. So they are without excuse,(B) 21 for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless hearts were darkened.(C) 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.(D)
24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.(E) 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.(F)
26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Their females exchanged natural intercourse[a] for unnatural,(G) 27 and in the same way also the males, giving up natural intercourse[b] with females, were consumed with their passionate desires for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.(H)
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind and to do things that should not be done.(I) 29 They were filled with every kind of injustice, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters,[c] insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents,(J) 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.(K) 32 They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die, yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.(L)
Psalm 10
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
1 [a]Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked persecute the poor—
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.(A)
3 For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart;
those greedy for gain curse and renounce the Lord.(B)
4 In the pride of their countenance the wicked say, “God will not seek it out”;
all their thoughts are, “There is no God.”(C)
5 Their ways prosper at all times;
your judgments are on high, out of their sight;
as for their foes, they scoff at them.
6 They think in their heart, “We shall not be moved;
throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.”(D)
7 Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
under their tongues are mischief and iniquity.(E)
8 They sit in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places they murder the innocent.
Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;(F)
9 they lurk in secret like a lion in its den;
they lurk that they may seize the poor;
they seize the poor and drag them off in their net.(G)
10 They stoop, they crouch,
and the helpless fall by their might.
11 They think in their heart, “God has forgotten;
he has hidden his face; he will never see it.”(H)
12 Rise up, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
do not forget the oppressed.(I)
13 Why do the wicked renounce God
and say in their hearts, “You will not call us to account”?
14 But you do see! Indeed, you note trouble and grief,
that you may take it into your hands;
the helpless commit themselves to you;
you have been the helper of the orphan.(J)
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoers;
seek out their wickedness until you find none.(K)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.