1David put up buildings for himself in the City of David and prepared a place for the ark of God, and he put up a tent for it. 2Then he said, “Only the Levites shall move the ark of God, since Yahweh has chosen them to carry the ark and to serve him always.”
3Then David gathered all Israel together in Jerusalem to bring the ark of God up to the place he had prepared for it. 4David called together the sons of Aaron and the sons of Levi: 5of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief and his hundred and twenty kinsmen; 6of the sons of Merari, Asaiah and his two hundred and twenty kinsmen; 7of the sons of Gershom, Joel and his hundred and thirty kinsmen; 8of the sons of Elizaphah, Shemaiah and his two hundred kinsmen; 9of the sons of Hebron, Eliel and eighty kinsmen; 10of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab and his hundred and twelve kinsmen.
11David called in the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab. 12He told them, “You are the heads of families of the Levites. Purify yourselves, you and your brothers, and bring the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, up to the place I have prepared for it. 13The first time you were not there to carry it and Yahweh our God punished us for not consulting him as we should have done.”
14So the priests and the Levites purified themselves to bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, 15and the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had ordered according to the command of Yahweh.
16David then told the leaders of the Levites to assign duties for some Levites to sing and play a joyful tune with their various musical instruments: harps and lyres and cymbals. 17The Levites then appointed Heman son of Joel, Asaph son of Berechiah, one of his brothers, Ethan son of Kushaiah, one of their Merarite kinsmen; 18and with them, next in rank, their kinsmen as keepers of the gate: Zechariah son of Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel. 19Heman, Asaph and Ethan the cantors, were to clash the cymbals of bronze; 20Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were to play the keyed harp. 21Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel and Azaziah, giving the beat, were to play the octave lyre. 22Chenaniah was chosen to be in charge of the transportation, because he was very skillful at doing these things. 23Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers to the ark. 24The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasal, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer were to sound the trumpet before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were to be gate keepers to the ark.
25So David, with the leaders of Israel and the commanders of thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from Obed-edom’s house with great rejoicing. 26And while God was securing the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven sheep. 27David was wearing a robe of fine linen, like all the Levites who carried the ark, as well as the cantors and Chenaniah, the officer in charge of its transportation. David also wore the linen. 28Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh with shouts of joy to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, making music with harp and lyre. 29Now as the ark of the covenant of Yahweh entered the City of David, Michal the daughter of Saul was watching from the window and saw King David dancing and leaping with joy and she despised him.
