1 Chronicles 15
1 And
David made for himself houses in the city of David,
and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and made a tent for it.
2 Then said David, It is not
lawful for any to bear the ark of God, but the
Levites; for the Lord has chosen them to bear the ark of the Lord, and to
minister to him for ever.
3 And David assembled all Israel at
Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place which he
had prepared for it.
4 And David gathered together the sons
of Aaron the Levites. 5 Of the sons of
Caath; there was Uriel the chief, and his brethren, a
hundred and twenty. 6 Of the sons of
Merari; Asaia the chief, and his brethren, two hundred and twenty.
7 Of the sons of Gedson; Joel the
chief, and his brethren, a hundred and thirty.
8 Of the sons of Elisaphat; Semei the
chief, and his brethren, two hundred.
9 Of the sons of Chebrom; Eliel the
chief, and his brethren eighty. 10 Of
the sons of Oziel; Aminadab the chief, and his brethren a hundred and twelve.
11 And David called Sadoc and
Abiathar the priests, and the Levites, Uriel, Asaia, and Joel, and Semaia, and
Eliel, and Aminadab, 12 and said to
them, Ye are the heads of the families of the
Levites: sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, and ye shall carry up the
ark of the God of Israel, to the place which I have
prepared for it. 13 For because ye
were not ready at the first, our God made a breach
upon us, because we sought him not according to the ordinance.
14 So the priests and the Levites
sanctified themselves, to bring up the ark of the God of Israel.
15 And the sons of the Levites took
the ark of God, (as Moses commanded by the word of God according to the
scripture) upon their shoulders with staves.
16 And David said to the chiefs of
the Levites, Set your brethren the singers with musical instruments, lutes,
harps, and cymbals, to sound aloud with a voice of joy.
17 So the Levites appointed Æman the
son of Joel; Asaph the son of Barachias was one of
his brethren; and Æthan the son of Kisæus was of the sons of Merari their
brethren; 18 and with them their
brethren of the second rank, Zacharias, and Oziel, and Semiramoth, and Jeiel,
and Elioel, and Eliab, and Banaia, and Maasaia, and Matthathia, and Eliphena,
and Makellia, and Abdedom, and Jeiel, and Ozias, the porters.
19 And the singers, Æman, Asaph, and
Æthan, with brazen cymbals to make a sound to be
heard. 20 Zacharias, and Oziel,
Semiramoth, Jeiel, Oni, Eliab, Maasæas, Banæas, with lutes, on alæmoth.
21 And Mattathias, and Eliphalu, and
Makenia, and Abdedom, and Jeiel, and Ozias, with harps of Amasenith, to make a
loud noise.
22 And Chonenia chief of the Levites
was master of the bands, because he was skilful.
23 And Barachia and Elcana
were door-keepers of the ark.
24 And Somnia, and Josaphat, and
Nathanael, and Amasai, and Zacharia, and Banæa, and Eliezer, the priests, were
sounding with trumpets before the ark of God: and Abdedom and Jeia
were door-keepers of the ark of God.
25 So David, and the elders of
Israel, and the captains of thousands, went to bring up the ark of the
covenant from the house of Abdedom with gladness.
26 And it came to pass when God
strengthened the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that
they sacrificed seven calves and seven rams.
27 And David
was girt with a fine linen robe, and all the Levites
who were bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
and the singers, and Chonenias the master of the band of singers; also upon
David there was a robe of fine linen.
28 And all Israel brought up the ark
of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of a horn, and
with trumpets, and with cymbals, playing loudly on lutes and harps.
29 And the ark of the covenant of the
Lord arrived, and came to the city of David; and Melchol the daughter of Saul
looked down through the window, and saw king David dancing and playing: and
she despised him in her heart.