1 David erected buildings for himself in the City of David, prepared a place for the ark of God, and set up a tent for it.
2 Then David said, “No one but theL’vi’imshould carry the ark of God, becauseAdonaichose them to carry the ark ofAdonaiand to serve him forever.”
3 David assembled all Isra’el in Yerushalayim to bring the ark ofAdonaiup to its place, which he had prepared for it.
4 David gathered together the descendants of Aharon and theL’vi’im:
5 from the descendants of K’hat: Uri’el the chief, and 120 of his kinsmen;
6 from the descendants of M’rari: ‘Asayah the chief, and 220 of his kinsmen;
7 from the descendants of Gershom: Yo’el the chief, and 130 of his kinsmen;
8 from the descendants of Elitzafan: Sh’ma‘yah the chief, and 200 of his kinsmen;
9 from the descendants of Hevron: Eli’el the chief, and eighty of his kinsmen;
10 and from the descendants of ‘Uzi’el: ‘Amminadav the chief, and 112 of his kinsmen.
11 David called for Tzadok and Evyatar thecohanimand for theL’vi’im —Uri’el, ‘Asayah, Yo’el, Sh’ma‘yah, Eli’el and ‘Amminadav —
12 and said to them, “You are the clan leaders of theL’vi’im. Consecrate yourselves, both you and your kinsmen, to bring the ark ofAdonaithe God of Isra’el up to the place I have prepared for it.
13 It’s because you weren’t there the first time thatAdonaiour God broke out against us. We didn’t seek him out according to the rule.”
14 So thecohanimandL’vi’imconsecrated themselves to bring up the ark ofAdonaithe God of Isra’el;
15 and theL’vi’imcarried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on it, as Moshe had ordered, according to whatAdonaihad said.
16 David spoke to the chief of theL’vi’imto appoint their kinsmen to be singers making use of musical instruments — lutes, lyres and cymbals — to play loudly and raise sounds of joy.
17 So theL’vi’imappointed Heman the son of Yo’el; of his kinsmen, Asaf the son of Berekhyahu; of the descendants of M’rari their kinsmen, Eitan the son of Kushayahu;
18 and with them their second-degree kinsmen Z’kharyahu, Ben, Ya‘azi’el, Sh’miramot, Yechi’el, ‘Uni, Eli’av, B’nayahu, Ma‘aseiyahu, Mattityahu, Elif’lehu, Mikneyahu, with ‘Oved-Edom and Ye‘i’el the gatekeepers.
19 The singers Heman, Asaf and Eitan were appointed to sound the bronze cymbals.
20 Z’kharyahu, ‘Azi’el, Sh’miramot, Yechi’el, ‘Uni, Eli’av, Ma‘aseiyahu and B’nayahu were to play the lutes for‘alamot[high-pitched music?].
21 Mattityahu, Elif’lehu, Mikneyahu, ’Oved-Edom, Ye‘i’el and ‘Azazyahu were to play lyres to lead thesh’minit[low-pitched music?].
22 K’nanyahu, chief of theL’vi’im, was in charge of the singing; he was put in charge of the singing because he was skillful at it.
23 Berekhyahu and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.
24 Sh’vanyahu, Yoshafat, N’tan’el, ‘Amasai, Z’kharyahu, B’nayahu and Eli‘ezer thecohanimblew the trumpets in front of the ark of God. ‘Oved-Edom and Yechiyah were gatekeepers for the ark.
25 So David, the leaders of Isra’el and the commanders over thousands went to bring up the ark for the covenant ofAdonaiout from the house of ‘Oved-Edom with joy.
26 Since God was helping theL’vi’imwho were carrying the ark for the covenant ofAdonai, they sacrificed seven young bulls and seven rams.
27 David, all theL’vi’imbearing the ark, the singers and K’nanyah the music leader for the singers were all wearing linen cloaks; and David was also wearing a linen ritual vest.
28 So all Isra’el brought up the ark for the covenant ofAdonaiwith shouting; blowing onshofars and trumpets; and cymbals sounding with lutes and lyres.
29 As the ark for the covenant ofAdonaientered the City of David, Mikhal the daughter of Sha’ul, watching from the window, saw King David dancing and celebrating; and she was filled with contempt for him.