Preparing to Move the Ark
And he made himself houses in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it.
Then David said: “No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites — for the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever.”
And David assembled all Israel to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place, which he had prepared for it.
And David gathered the sons of Aaron and the Levites:
Of the sons of Kohath: Uriel the commander, and his brothers — a hundred and twenty.
Of the sons of Merari: Asaiah the commander, and his brothers — two hundred and twenty.
Of the sons of Gershom: Joel the commander, and his brothers — a hundred and thirty.
Of the sons of Elizaphan: Shemaiah the commander, and his brothers — two hundred.
Of the sons of Hebron: Eliel the commander, and his brothers — eighty.
Of the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab the commander, and his brothers — a hundred and twelve.
And David called for Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, and for the Levites — for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab —
and said to them: “You are the heads of the fathers of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.
For because you were not there the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us — for we did not seek him according to the custom.”
The Priests and Levites Carry the Ark
And the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves, to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.
And the sons of the Levites carried the ark of God, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD — on their shoulders, with the poles upon them.
And David told the commanders of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers, with instruments of song — harps, and lyres, and cymbals — sounding aloud, lifting the voice with joy.
And 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;
and with them their brothers of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel — the gatekeepers.
And the singers — Heman, Asaph, and Ethan — with cymbals of bronze, to sound aloud;
and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps on Alamoth;
and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with lyres on the Sheminith, to lead.
And Chenaniah, commander of the Levites in the carrying — he instructed in the carrying, for he understood it.
And Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.
And Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were sounding the trumpets before the ark of God; and Obed-edom and Jehiah were gatekeepers for the ark.
Moving the Ark to Jerusalem
So it was David, and the elders of Israel, and the commanders of the thousands, who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom — with joy.
And it was, when God helped the Levites carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
And David was wrapped in a robe of fine linen — and all the Levites carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah, the commander of the carrying, with the singers; and on David was a linen ephod.
And all Israel was bringing up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the horn, and with trumpets, and with cymbals — sounding aloud with harps and lyres.
Michal’s Contempt for David
And it was, as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked down through the window and saw King David leaping and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart.