1 Chronicles 15

1 David [commanded his workers to] build some houses for him in Jerusalem. He also told them to set up a tent in which to put the Sacred Chest.

Once David had finished building houses for himself in the City of David, he made a place for the Ark of God and set up a tent there.

2 He said, “Only the descendants of Levi are permitted to carry God’s Sacred Chest, because they are the ones whom God chose to carry it and to serve him forever.”

Then he gave orders: “Nobody is to carry the Ark of God except the Levites, for the Lord himself chose them to carry the Ark of the Lord and to serve him forever.”

3 David summoned all the people of Israel to come to Jerusalem. He wanted the Sacred Chest of Yahweh to be put in the place that he had made for it.

David summoned all of Israel to Jerusalem to bring the Ark of the Lord to the place he'd prepared for it.

4 He summoned the descendants of Aaron, [who was the first Supreme Priest, ] and the other descendants of Levi.

This is the list of the Levites, the sons of Aaron, that David called to attend:

5 120 descendants of Kohath, who was Levi’s second son, came, with Uriel their leader.

From the sons of Kohath, Uriel (chief), and 120 of his relatives;

6 There were 220 descendants of Merari, Levi’s third son, who came, with Asaiah their leader.

from the sons of Merari, Asaiah (chief), with 220 of his relatives;

7 There were 130 descendants of Gershon, Levi’s first son, who came, with Joel their leader.

from the sons of Gershom, Joel (chief), with 130 of his relatives;

8 There were 200 people from Elizaphan’s clan who came, with Shemaiah their leader.

from the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah (chief), with 200 of his relatives;

9 There were 80 people from Hebron’s clan who came, with Eliel their leader.

from the sons of Hebron, Eliel (chief), with 80 of his relatives;

10 And there were 112 people from Uzziel’s clan who came, with Amminadab their leader.

from the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab (chief), with 112 of his relatives.

11 David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and these [other] descendants of Levi: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.

Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.

12 David said to them, “You are the leaders of the clans descended from Levi. You and the other descendants of Levi must purify yourselves, in order to [be able to do this special work for Yahweh. You must] bring the Sacred Chest of Yahweh, the God of us Israelis, up to the place that I have made for it [here in Jerusalem].

He told them, “You are the heads of the Levite families. You must make yourselves and your relatives ceremonially clean and pure before you bring back the Ark of God, the Lord of Israel to the place I have made for it.

13 The first time that we tried to bring it, we did not ask Yahweh how we should carry it {it should be carried}. You [descendants of Levi] were not the ones who carried it, so Yahweh our God punished us.”

Because you weren't there the first time to carry the Ark the Lord our God burst out in violence against us. We didn't treat it in accordance with his instructions.”

14 Then the priests and the [other] descendants of Levi [performed the rituals to] purify themselves, in order that it would be proper for them to do the work of carrying the Sacred Chest of Yahweh, the God of us Israeli people.

So the priests and the Levites purified themselves so that they could bring back the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.

15 The descendants of Levi [inserted] the poles [into the rings on] the Sacred Chest so that with them, they could carry the Sacred Chest on their shoulders, like Moses had commanded, and like Yahweh had said that they should.

Then the Levites carried the Ark of God in the way that Moses had ordered, according to what God had said—on their shoulders using the special carrying poles.

16 David told the leaders of the descendants of Levi to appoint some of their relatives to sing joyful songs and play lyres, harps, and cymbals [while they were carrying the Sacred Chest].

David also instructed the leaders of the Levites to assign from their relatives singers who would sing loudly for joy, accompanied by musicians playing lyres, and harps, and cymbals.

17 So they appointed Heman and his relatives Asaph and Ethan. Heman was the son of Joel; Asaph was the son of Berekiah. Ethan, a descendant of Merari, was Kushaiah’s son.

So the Levites assigned Heman the son of Joel; and from his relatives Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari, their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah.

18 There was also another group of descendants of Levi who were appointed: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and two of the Sacred Tent gatekeepers, Obed-Edom and Jeiel.

The second group of Levites consisted of Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah; and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.

19 Heman, Asaph and Ethan sang, and also played bronze cymbals.

The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to strike the bronze cymbals;

20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah played lyres.

Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps “according to alamoth,”

21 Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah played harps.

while Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres “according to sheminith.”

22 Kenaniah, the leader of the descendants of Levi, directed the singing because he was very skilled at doing that.

Kenaniah, the leader of the Levites in singing, was chosen to lead the music because of his ability.

23 Berekiah and Elkanah were two of the men who guarded the Sacred Chest.

Berechiah and Elkanah were appointed to guard the Ark.

24 The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer were appointed to blow trumpets in front of the Sacred Chest. Obed-Edom and Jehiah also guarded the Sacred Chest.

Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests were to blow the trumpets in front of the Ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also appointed to guard the Ark.

25 David and the Israeli leaders and the officers who commanded 1,000 soldiers went to bring the Sacred Chest back from Obed-Edom’s house. They were very joyful as they brought it to Jerusalem.

Then David, the elders of Israel, and the senior army commanders, went with great celebration to bring back the Ark of the Lord's Agreement from the home of Obed-Edom.

26 God helped the descendants of Levi who carried the Sacred Chest of Yahweh; therefore David and the leaders sacrificed seven bulls and seven (rams/male sheep) [to thank him].

Because God helped the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord's Agreement, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

27 All the descendants of Levi who carried the Sacred Chest, all the singers, and Kenaniah, the man who directed those who sang, wore robes of fine white linen and sacred vests made of fine linen. David also wore a sacred vest made of white linen.

David wore a robe of fine linen like all the Levites who were carrying the Ark, and the singers and Kenaniah the leader of the music and singers. David also wore a linen ephod.

28 So all of the Israeli people joined in bringing the Sacred Chest up [to Jerusalem]. They shouted [joyfully, while the musicians] blew horns and trumpets, and played cymbals, lyres, and harps.

So all of Israel brought back the Ark of the Lord's Agreement with a lot of shouting, accompanied by horns, trumpets, and cymbals, and music played on harps and lyres.

29 While they were bringing the Sacred Chest into Jerusalem, Saul’s daughter Michal watched them, looking out of a window. When she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him.

But as Ark of the Lord's Agreement entered the City of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked down from a window. Seeing David the king jumping and dancing for joy, she was full of contempt for him.