1 Chronicles 15

Gathering the Leaders 1 Chronicles 15:3–10

³Verse 3. David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up Yahweh’s ark to its place, which he had prepared for it. ⁴Verse 4. David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: ⁵Verse 5. of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and his brothers one hundred twenty; ⁶Verse 6. of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred twenty; ⁷Verse 7. of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and his brothers one hundred thirty; ⁸Verse 8. of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred;

⁹Verse 9. of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and his brothers eighty; ¹⁰Verse 10. of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and his brothers one hundred twelve.

Sanctification of the Levites 1 Chronicles 15:11–14

¹¹Verse 11. David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, ¹²Verse 12. and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, both you and your brothers, that you may bring the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, up to the place that I have prepared for it. ¹³Verse 13. For because you didn’t carry it at first, Yahweh our God broke out in anger against us, because we didn’t seek him according to the ordinance.” ¹⁴Verse 14. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Levites Carry the Ark 1 Chronicles 15:15–22

¹⁵Verse 15. The children of the Levites bore God’s ark on their shoulders with its poles, as Moses commanded according to Yahweh’s word. ¹⁶Verse 16. David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers with instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up their voices with joy. ¹⁷Verse 17. So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸Verse 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 doorkeepers.

¹⁹Verse 19. So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were given cymbals of brass to sound aloud; ²⁰Verse 20. and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with stringed instruments set to Alamoth; ²¹Verse 21. and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the eight-stringed lyre, to lead. ²²Verse 22. Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the singing. He taught the singers, because he was skillful.

Musical Preparation and Sacrifice 1 Chronicles 15:23–26

²³Verse 23. Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark. ²⁴Verse 24. Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before God’s ark; and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark. ²⁵Verse 25. So David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring the ark of Yahweh’s covenant up out of the house of Obed-Edom with joy. ²⁶Verse 26. When God helped the Levites who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

The Joyful Procession 1 Chronicles 15:27–29

²⁷Verse 27. David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the choir master with the singers; and David had an ephod of linen on him. ²⁸Verse 28. Thus all Israel brought the ark of Yahweh’s covenant up with shouting, with sound of the cornet, with trumpets, and with cymbals, sounding aloud with stringed instruments and harps. ²⁹Verse 29. As the ark of Yahweh’s covenant came to David’s city, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and she despised him in her heart.