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built houses for himself in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the Ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. 2 Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the Ark of God, because the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him forever.”
3 David assembled all Israel together at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it. 4 Then he called together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:
5 From the descendants of Kohath,
Uriel the leader, and 120 of his kinsmen;
6 from the descendants of Merari,
Asaiah the leader, and 220 of his kinsmen;
7 from the descendants of Gershom,
Joel the leader, and 130 of his kinsmen;
8 from the descendants of Elizaphan,
Shemaiah the leader, and 80 of his kinsmen;
9 from the descendants of Hebron,
Eliel the leader, and 80 of his kinsmen;
10 from the descendants of Uzziel,
Amminadab the leader, and 112 of his kinsmen.
11 Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levite families. You and your fellow Levites must consecrate yourselves so you can bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. 13 It was because you, the Levites, were not there with us the first time, that the Lord burst out in anger against us, for we did not show Him due regard.” 14 So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 And the Levites carried the Ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.
16 Then David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to raise their voices with songs of joy accompanied with musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals.
17 So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; and from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; and from their brothers the descendants of Merari, Ethan son of Kushaiah; 18 and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.
19 The singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals; 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth; 21 and Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres according to the Sheminith. 22 Chenaniah was the leader of the Levites in music, and he was to direct the music because he was skilful at it.
23 Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests were to blow trumpets before the Ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also to be gatekeepers for the ark.
25 So David and the elders of Israel, and the commanders of the thousands went with rejoicing to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom. 26 Because God had helped the Levites who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
27 Now David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and as were the singers, and Chenaniah, the music leader of the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with the sounding of ram’s horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and the playing of harps and lyres.
29 But as the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked on from a window. When she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she depised him in her heart.