The Daily Audio Bible
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15 David erected buildings for himself in the City of David, prepared a place for the ark of God, and set up a tent for it. 2 Then David said, “No one but the L’vi’im should carry the ark of God, because Adonai chose them to carry the ark of Adonai and to serve him forever.”
3 David assembled all Isra’el in Yerushalayim to bring the ark of Adonai up to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4 David gathered together the descendants of Aharon and the L’vi’im: 5 from the descendants of K’hat: Uri’el the chief, and 120 of his kinsmen; 6 from the descendants of M’rari: ‘Asayah the chief, and 220 of his kinsmen; 7 from the descendants of Gershom: Yo’el the chief, and 130 of his kinsmen; 8 from the descendants of Elitzafan: Sh’ma‘yah the chief, and 200 of his kinsmen; 9 from the descendants of Hevron: Eli’el the chief, and eighty of his kinsmen; 10 and from the descendants of ‘Uzi’el: ‘Amminadav the chief, and 112 of his kinsmen.
11 David called for Tzadok and Evyatar the cohanim and for the L’vi’im — Uri’el, ‘Asayah, Yo’el, Sh’ma‘yah, Eli’el and ‘Amminadav — 12 and said to them, “You are the clan leaders of the L’vi’im. Consecrate yourselves, both you and your kinsmen, to bring the ark of Adonai the God of Isra’el up to the place I have prepared for it. 13 It’s because you weren’t there the first time that Adonai our God broke out against us. We didn’t seek him out according to the rule.” 14 So the cohanim and L’vi’im consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of Adonai the God of Isra’el; 15 and the L’vi’im carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on it, as Moshe had ordered, according to what Adonai had said.
16 David spoke to the chief of the L’vi’im to appoint their kinsmen to be singers making use of musical instruments — lutes, lyres and cymbals — to play loudly and raise sounds of joy. 17 So the L’vi’im appointed Heman the son of Yo’el; of his kinsmen, Asaf the son of Berekhyahu; of the descendants of M’rari their kinsmen, Eitan the son of Kushayahu; 18 and with them their second-degree kinsmen Z’kharyahu, Ben, Ya‘azi’el, Sh’miramot, Yechi’el, ‘Uni, Eli’av, B’nayahu, Ma‘aseiyahu, Mattityahu, Elif’lehu, Mikneyahu, with ‘Oved-Edom and Ye‘i’el the gatekeepers. 19 The singers Heman, Asaf and Eitan were appointed to sound the bronze cymbals. 20 Z’kharyahu, ‘Azi’el, Sh’miramot, Yechi’el, ‘Uni, Eli’av, Ma‘aseiyahu and B’nayahu were to play the lutes for ‘alamot [high-pitched music?]. 21 Mattityahu, Elif’lehu, Mikneyahu, ’Oved-Edom, Ye‘i’el and ‘Azazyahu were to play lyres to lead the sh’minit [low-pitched music?]. 22 K’nanyahu, chief of the L’vi’im, was in charge of the singing; he was put in charge of the singing because he was skillful at it. 23 Berekhyahu and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Sh’vanyahu, Yoshafat, N’tan’el, ‘Amasai, Z’kharyahu, B’nayahu and Eli‘ezer the cohanim blew the trumpets in front of the ark of God. ‘Oved-Edom and Yechiyah were gatekeepers for the ark.
25 So David, the leaders of Isra’el and the commanders over thousands went to bring up the ark for the covenant of Adonai out from the house of ‘Oved-Edom with joy. 26 Since God was helping the L’vi’im who were carrying the ark for the covenant of Adonai, they sacrificed seven young bulls and seven rams. 27 David, all the L’vi’im bearing the ark, the singers and K’nanyah the music leader for the singers were all wearing linen cloaks; and David was also wearing a linen ritual vest. 28 So all Isra’el brought up the ark for the covenant of Adonai with shouting; blowing on shofars and trumpets; and cymbals sounding with lutes and lyres. 29 As the ark for the covenant of Adonai entered the City of David, Mikhal the daughter of Sha’ul, watching from the window, saw King David dancing and celebrating; and she was filled with contempt for him.
16 They brought the ark of God in and put it in the tent that David had set up for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 When David had finished offering the burnt offering and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Adonai. 3 Then he distributed to everyone in Isra’el, to everyone there, both men and women, a loaf of bread, a portion of meat and a raisin cake.
4 He appointed certain L’vi’im to serve in front of the ark of Adonai, to celebrate, and to thank and praise Adonai the God of Isra’el: 5 Asaf, the leader; assisting him, Z’kharyah; then Ye‘i’el, Sh’miramot, Yechi’el, Mattityahu, Eli’av, B’nayahu, ‘Oved-Edom and Ye‘i’el playing lutes and lyres, while Asaf played cymbals. 6 B’nayah and Yachzi’el the cohanim blew the trumpets continually before the ark for the covenant of God. 7 It was on that same day that David first ordered that thanks be given to Adonai through Asaf and his kinsmen:
8 Give thanks to Adonai! Call on his name!
Make his deeds known among the peoples.
9 Sing to him, sing praises to him!
Talk about all his wonders.
10 Glory in his holy name;
let those seeking Adonai have joyful hearts.
11 Seek Adonai and his strength;
always seek his presence.
12 Remember the wonders he has done,
his signs and his spoken judgments.
13 You descendants of Isra’el his servant,
you offspring of Ya‘akov, his chosen ones:
14 he is Adonai our God,
His judgments are everywhere on earth.
15 Remember his covenant forever,
the word he commanded to a thousand generations,
16 the covenant he made with Avraham;
the oath he swore to Yitz’chak
17 and established as a law for Ya‘akov,
for Isra’el as an everlasting covenant:
18 “To you I will give the land of Kena‘an
as your allotted heritage.”
19 When you were but few in number,
and not only few, but aliens there too,
20 wandering from nation to nation,
from this kingdom to that people,
21 he allowed no one to oppress them.
Yes, for their sakes he rebuked even kings:
22 “Don’t touch my anointed ones
or do my prophets harm!”
23 Sing to Adonai, all the earth!
Proclaim his victory day after day!
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his wonders among all peoples!
25 For Adonai is great, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared more than all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are nothing,
but Adonai made the heavens.
27 In his presence are honor and majesty;
in his place, strength and joy.
28 Give Adonai his due, you families from the peoples,
give Adonai his due of glory and strength;
29 give Adonai the glory due to his name;
bring an offering, and come into his presence.
Worship Adonai in splendid, holy attire.
30 Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established, immovable.
31 Let the heavens rejoice; let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, “Adonai is king!”
32 Let the sea roar, and everything in it;
let the fields exult, and all that is in them.
33 Then the trees in the forest will sing before Adonai,
because he has come to judge the earth.
34 Give thanks to Adonai; for he is good,
for his grace continues forever.
35 Say: “Save us, God who can save us!
Gather and rescue us from the nations;
so that we can thank your holy name
and glory in praising you.
36 Blessed be Adonai, the God of Isra’el,
from eternity past to eternity future!”
All the people said, “Amen!” and praised Adonai.
18 What is revealed is God’s anger from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who in their wickedness keep suppressing the truth; 19 because what is known about God is plain to them, since God has made it plain to them. 20 For ever since the creation of the universe his invisible qualities — both his eternal power and his divine nature — have been clearly seen, because they can be understood from what he has made. Therefore, they have no excuse; 21 because, although they know who God is, they do not glorify him as God or thank him. On the contrary, they have become futile in their thinking; and their undiscerning hearts have become darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they have become fools! 23 In fact, they have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for mere images, like a mortal human being, or like birds, animals or reptiles!
24 This is why God has given them up to the vileness of their hearts’ lusts, to the shameful misuse of each other’s bodies. 25 They have exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, by worshipping and serving created things, rather than the Creator — praised be he for ever. Amen. 26 This is why God has given them up to degrading passions; so that their women exchange natural sexual relations for unnatural; 27 and likewise the men, giving up natural relations with the opposite sex, burn with passion for one another, men committing shameful acts with other men and receiving in their own persons the penalty appropriate to their perversion. 28 In other words, since they have not considered God worth knowing, God has given them up to worthless ways of thinking; so that they do improper things. 29 They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarrelling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents; 31 they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. 32 They know well enough God’s righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same.
10 Why, Adonai, do you stand at a distance?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in their arrogance hunt down the poor,
who get caught in the schemes they think up.
3 For the wicked boasts about his lusts;
he blesses greed and despises Adonai.
4 Every scheme of the wicked in his arrogance [says],
“There is no God, [so] it won’t be held against me.”
5 His ways prosper at all times.
Your judgments are way up there,
so he takes no notice.
His adversaries? He scoffs at them all.
6 In his heart he thinks, “I will never be shaken;
I won’t meet trouble, not now or ever.”
7 His mouth is full of curses, deceit, oppression;
under his tongue, mischief and injustice.
8 He waits near settlements in ambush
and kills an innocent man in secret;
his eyes are on the hunt for the helpless.
9 Lurking unseen like a lion in his lair,
he lies in wait to pounce on the poor,
then seizes the poor and drags him off in his net.
10 Yes, he stoops, crouches down low;
and the helpless wretch falls into his clutches.
11 He says in his heart, “God forgets,
he hides his face, he will never see.”
12 Arise, Adonai! God, raise your hand!
Don’t forget the humble!
13 Why does the wicked despise God
and say in his heart, “It won’t be held against me”?
14 You have seen; for you look at mischief and grief,
so that you can take the matter in hand.
The helpless commits himself to you;
you help the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked!
As for the evil man,
search out his wickedness
until there is none left.
6 Many ask favors of a generous person —
to a giver of gifts, everyone is a friend.
7 A poor man’s relatives all hate him;
even more his friends stay away from him.
He may pursue them with entreaties,
but they aren’t there to be found.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.