The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

15 David built houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, aand pitched a tent for it. 2 Then David said, “No one may carry the bark of God but the Levites, for cthe Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.” 3 And David dgathered all Israel together at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4 Then David assembled the children of Aaron and the Levites: 5 of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and one hundred and twenty of his 1brethren; 6 of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and two hundred and twenty of his brethren; 7 of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and one hundred and thirty of his brethren; 8 of the sons of eElizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his brethren; 9 of the sons of fHebron, Eliel the chief, and eighty of his brethren; 10 of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and one hundred and twelve of his brethren.

11 And David called for gZadok and hAbiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; 2sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. 13 For ibecause you did not do it the first time, jthe Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him 3about the proper order.”

14 So the priests and the Levites 4sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. 15 And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as kMoses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

16 Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy. 17 So the Levites appointed lHeman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, mAsaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren, the sons of Merari, nEthan the son of Kushaiah; 18 and with them their brethren of the second rank: Zechariah, 5Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers; 19 the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound the cymbals of bronze; 20 Zechariah, 6Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to oAlamoth; 21 Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the pSheminith; 22 Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was instructor in charge of the music, because he was skillful; 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark; 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, qwere to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; and rObed-Edom and Jehiah, doorkeepers for the ark.

25 So sDavid, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with joy. 26 And so it was, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bulls and seven rams. 27 David was clothed with a robe of fine tlinen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. 28 uThus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets and with cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps.

29 And it happened, vas the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the City of David, that Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David whirling and playing music; and she despised him in her heart.

The Ark Placed in the Tabernacle

16 So athey brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, bhe blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3 Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins.

4 And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to ccommemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: 5 Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then dJeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals; 6 Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.

David’s Song of Thanksgiving

7 On that day eDavid ffirst delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the Lord:

8 gOh, give thanks to the Lord!

Call upon His name;

Make known His deeds among the peoples!

9 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;

Talk of all His wondrous works!

10 Glory in His holy name;

Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!

11 Seek the Lord and His strength;

Seek His face evermore!

12 Remember His marvelous works which He has done,

His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,

13 O seed of Israel His servant,

You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

14 He is the Lord our God;

His hjudgments are in all the earth.

15 Remember His covenant forever,

The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,

16 The icovenant which He made with Abraham,

And His oath to Isaac,

17 And jconfirmed it to kJacob for a statute,

To Israel for an everlasting covenant,

18 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

As the allotment of your inheritance,”

19 When you were lfew in number,

Indeed very few, and strangers in it.

20 When they went from one nation to another,

And from one kingdom to another people,

21 He permitted no man to do them wrong;

Yes, He mrebuked kings for their sakes,

22 Saying, n“Do not touch My anointed ones,

And do My prophets no harm.”

23 oSing to the Lord, all the earth;

Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

24 Declare His glory among the nations,

His wonders among all peoples.

25 For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;

He is also to be feared above all gods.

26 For all the gods pof the peoples are 1idols,

But the Lord made the heavens.

27 Honor and majesty are before Him;

Strength and gladness are in His place.

28 Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

Give to the Lord glory and strength.

29 Give to the Lord the glory due His name;

Bring an offering, and come before Him.

Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!

30 Tremble before Him, all the earth.

The world also is firmly established,

It shall not be moved.

31 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;

And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”

32 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;

Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.

33 Then the qtrees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord,

For He is rcoming to judge the earth.

34 sOh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

35 tAnd say, “Save us, O God of our salvation;

Gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles,

To give thanks to Your holy name,

To triumph in Your praise.”

36 uBlessed be the Lord God of Israel

From everlasting to everlasting!

And all vthe people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

Regular Worship Maintained

37 So he left wAsaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark regularly, as every day’s work xrequired; 38 and yObed-Edom with his sixty-eight brethren, including Obed-Edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, to be gatekeepers; 39 and Zadok the priest and his brethren the priests, zbefore the tabernacle of the Lord aat the 2high place that was at Gibeon, 40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly bmorning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the Law of the Lord which He commanded Israel; 41 and with them Heman and Jeduthun and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the Lord, cbecause His mercy endures forever; 42 and with them Heman and Jeduthun, to sound aloud with trumpets and cymbals and the musical instruments of God. Now the sons of Jeduthun were gatekeepers.

43 dThen all the people departed, every man to his house; and David returned to bless his house.

God’s Covenant with David

17 Now ait came to pass, when David was dwelling in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains.”

2 Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

3 But it happened that night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall bnot build Me a house to dwell in. 5 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought up Israel, even to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. 6 Wherever I have moved about with all Israel, have I ever spoken a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’ 7 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “I took you cfrom the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be 1ruler over My people Israel. 8 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have 2made you a name like the name of the great men who are on the earth. 9 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will dplant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 10 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. Also I will subdue all your enemies. Furthermore I tell you that the Lord will build you a 3house. 11 And it shall be, when your days are efulfilled, when you must 4go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your fseed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 gHe shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 hI will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, ias I took it from him who was before you. 14 And jI will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

15 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

16 kThen King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 17 And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, O Lord God. 18 What more can David say to You for the honor of Your servant? For You know Your servant. 19 O Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20 O Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21 lAnd who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people—to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt? 22 For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God.

23 “And now, O Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have said. 24 So let it be established, that Your name may be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. 25 For You, O my God, 5have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house. Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray before You. 26 And now, Lord, 6You are God, and have promised this goodness to Your servant. 27 Now You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever.”