Old/New Testament

The Ark Brought from Kiriath-Jearim

13 David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader. ² And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers ^(A)who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us. ³ Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, ^(B)for we did not seek it^[a] in the days of Saul.” ⁴ All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

Uzzah and the Ark

^5 (C)So David assembled all Israel ^(D)from the ^(E)Nile^[b] of Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God ^(F)from Kiriath-jearim. ^6 (G)And David and all Israel went up to ^(H)Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord who ^(I)sits enthroned above the cherubim. ⁷ And they carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of ^(J)Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio^[c] were driving the cart. ⁸ And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with song and ^(K)lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.

⁹ And when they came to the threshing floor of ^(L)Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. ¹⁰ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down ^(M)because he put out his hand to the ark, and ^(N)he died there before God. ¹¹ And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza^[d] to this day. ¹² And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” ¹³ So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house ^(O)of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹⁴ And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months. ^(P)And the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had.

David's Wives and Children

14 ^(Q)And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also masons and carpenters to build a house for him. ² And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.

³ And David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons and daughters. ^4 (R)These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: ^(S)Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, ^(T)Beeliada and ^(U)Eliphelet.

Philistines Defeated

⁸ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went out against them. ⁹ Now the Philistines had come and ^(V)made a raid in the ^(W)Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁰ And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up, and I will give them into your hand.” ¹¹ And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through^[e] my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. ¹² And they left their gods there, and David gave command, and they were burned.

¹³ And the Philistines yet again ^(X)made a raid in the valley. ¹⁴ And when David again inquired of God, ^(Y)God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees. ¹⁵ And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” ¹⁶ And David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer. ¹⁷ And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the ^(Z)fear of him upon all nations.

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

15 David^[f] built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and ^(AA)pitched a tent for it. ² Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry ^(AB)the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever. ^3 (AC)And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord ^(AD)to its place, which he had prepared for it. ⁴ And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and ^(AE)the Levites: ⁵ of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers; ⁶ of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his brothers; ⁷ of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his brothers; ⁸ of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his brothers; ⁹ of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his brothers; ¹⁰ of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his brothers. ¹¹ Then David summoned the priests ^(AF)Zadok and ^(AG)Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, ¹² and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. ^(AH)Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(AI)to the place that I have prepared for it. ^13 (AJ)Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.” ¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders ^(AK)with the poles, ^(AL)as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁶ David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on ^(AM)musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. ¹⁷ So the Levites appointed ^(AN)Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers ^(AO)Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, ^(AP)Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their brothers 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, ^(AQ)Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to ^(AR)Alamoth; ²¹ but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, ^(AS)Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to ^(AT)the Sheminith. ²² Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should 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, should ^(AU)blow the trumpets before the ark of God. ^(AV)Obed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.

^25 (AW)So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of ^(AX)Obed-edom with rejoicing. ²⁶ And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed ^(AY)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, ^(AZ)trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on ^(BA)harps and lyres.

²⁹ And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

Jesus at the Feast of Booths

7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because ^(A)the Jews^[a] were seeking to kill him. ² Now ^(B)the Jews' Feast of ^(C)Booths was at hand. ^3 (D)So his brothers^[b] said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. ⁴ For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, ^(E)show yourself to the world.” ^5 (F)For not even ^(G)his brothers believed in him. ⁶ Jesus said to them, ^(H)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but ^(I)it hates me because I testify about it that ^(J)its works are evil. ⁸ You go up to the feast. I am not^[c] going up to this feast, for ^(K)my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

¹⁰ But after ^(L)his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. ^11 (M)The Jews ^(N)were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And there was much ^(O)muttering about him among the people. ^(P)While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, ^(Q)he is leading the people astray.” ¹³ Yet ^(R)for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

¹⁴ About the middle of the feast Jesus went up ^(S)into the temple and began teaching. ¹⁵ The Jews therefore ^(T)marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,^[d] when he has never studied?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them, ^(U)“My teaching is not mine, but his ^(V)who sent me. ^17 (W)If anyone's will is to do God's^[e] will, ^(X)he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I ^(Y)am speaking on my own authority. ¹⁸ The one who speaks on his own authority ^(Z)seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. ^19 (AA)Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. ^(AB)Why do you seek to kill me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, ^(AC)“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did ^(AD)one work, and you all marvel at it. ^22 (AE)Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but ^(AF)from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³ If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, ^(AG)are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? ^24 (AH)Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Can This Be the Christ?

²⁵ Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^(AI)they seek to kill? ²⁶ And here he is, ^(AJ)speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^(AK)the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷ But ^(AL)we know ^(AM)where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^(AN)no one will know where he comes from.”