Study Desk

And ^(a)Benjamin ^[a]became the father of Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, ^(b)Aharah the third,

Nohah the fourth and Rapha the fifth.

Bela had sons: ^[b]Addar, Gera, Abihud,

Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,

Gera, Shephuphan and Huram.

These are the sons of Ehud: these are the heads of fathers' households of the inhabitants of Geba, and they carried them into exile to Manahath,

namely, Naaman, Ahijah and Gera—he carried them into exile; and he became the father of Uzza and Ahihud.

Shaharaim became the father of children in the ^[c]country of Moab after he had ^[d]sent away Hushim and Baara his wives.

By Hodesh his wife he became the father of Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam,

Jeuz, Sachia, Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers' households.

By Hushim he became the father of Abitub and Elpaal.

The sons of Elpaal were Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with its towns;

and Beriah and Shema, who were heads of fathers' households of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who put to flight the inhabitants of Gath;

and ^[e]Ahio, Shashak and Jeremoth.

Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,

Michael, Ishpah and Joha were the sons of Beriah.

Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber,

Ishmerai, Izliah and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal.

Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi,

Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel,

Adaiah, Beraiah and Shimrath were the sons of ^[f]Shimei.

Ishpan, Eber, Eliel,

Abdon, Zichri, Hanan,

Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah,

Iphdeiah and Penuel were the sons of Shashak.

Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah,

Jaareshiah, Elijah and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.

These were heads of the fathers' households according to their generations, chief men ^[g]who lived in Jerusalem.

^(c)Now in Gibeon, Jeiel, the father of Gibeon lived, and his wife's name was Maacah;

and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab,

Gedor, Ahio and ^[h]Zecher.

Mikloth became the father of ^[i]Shimeah. And they also lived with their ^[j]relatives in Jerusalem opposite their other ^[k]relatives.

^(d)Ner became the father of Kish, and Kish became the father of Saul, and Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, ^[l]Abinadab and ^[m]Eshbaal.

The son of Jonathan was ^[n]Merib-baal, and Merib-baal became the father of Micah.

The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, ^[o]Tarea and Ahaz.

Ahaz became the father of ^[p]Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah became the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza.

Moza became the father of Binea; ^[q]Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.

Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.

The sons of Eshek his brother were Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second and Eliphelet the third.

The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor, archers, and had many sons and grandsons, 150 of them. All these were of the sons of Benjamin.

So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And ^(a)Judah was carried away into exile to Babylon for their unfaithfulness.

^(b)Now the first who lived in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites and ^(c)the ^[a]temple servants.

Some of the sons of Judah, of the sons of Benjamin and of the sons of Ephraim and Manasseh lived in ^(d)Jerusalem:

Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, from the sons of Perez the ^(e)son of Judah.

From the Shilonites were Asaiah the firstborn and his sons.

From the sons of Zerah were Jeuel and their ^[b]relatives, 690 of them.

From the sons of Benjamin were Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah,

and Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;

and their relatives according to their generations, ^(f)956. All these were heads of fathers' households according to their fathers' houses.

^(g)From the priests were Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin,

and ^[c]Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, ^(h)the chief officer of the house of God;

and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

and their relatives, heads of their fathers' households, 1,760 very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.

⁽ⁱ⁾Of the Levites were Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;

and Bakbakkar, Heresh and Galal and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of ^[d]Zichri, the son of Asaph,

and ^[e]Obadiah the son of ^[f]Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.

Now the gatekeepers were ^[g]Shallum and Akkub and Talmon and Ahiman and their relatives (Shallum the chief

being stationed until now at ^(j)the king's gate to the east). These were the gatekeepers for the camp of the sons of Levi.

Shallum the son of Kore, the son of ^[h]Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his relatives of his father's house, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent; and their fathers had been over the camp of the Lord , keepers of the entrance.

^(k)Phinehas the son of Eleazar was ruler over them previously, and the Lord was with him.

^(l)Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper of the entrance of the tent of meeting.

All these who were chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds were 212. These were enrolled by genealogy in their villages, ^(m)whom David and Samuel the seer appointed ⁽ⁿ⁾in their office of trust.

So they and their sons ^[i]had charge of the gates of the house of the Lord , even the house of the tent, as guards.

The gatekeepers were ^[j]on the four sides, to the east, west, north and south.

Their relatives in their villages ^(o)were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with ^[k]them;

for the four chief gatekeepers who were Levites, were in an office of trust, and were over the chambers and over the treasuries in the house of God.

They spent the night around the house of God, ^(p)because the watch was ^[l]committed to them; and they were ^[m]in charge of opening it morning by morning.

Now some of them ^[n]had charge of the utensils of service, for ^[o]they counted them when they brought them in and when they took them out.

Some of them also were appointed over the furniture and over all the utensils of the sanctuary and ^(q)over the fine flour and the wine and the oil and the frankincense and the spices.

Some of ^(r)the sons of the priests prepared the mixing of the spices.

Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had ^(s)the ^[p]responsibility over the things which were baked in pans.

Some of their relatives of the sons of the Kohathites ^(t)were over the showbread to prepare it every sabbath.

Now these are ^(u)the singers, heads of fathers' households of the Levites, who lived in the chambers of the temple free from other service; for they were ^[q]engaged ^(v)in their work day and night.

These were heads of fathers' households of the Levites according to their generations, chief men, ^[r]who lived in Jerusalem.

^(w)In Gibeon Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived, and his wife's name was Maacah,

and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,

Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah and Mikloth.

Mikloth became the father of Shimeam. And they also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem opposite their other relatives.

^(x)Ner became the father of Kish, and Kish became the father of Saul, and Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal.

The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal became the father of Micah.

The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea ^(y)and Ahaz.

Ahaz became the father of Jarah, and Jarah became the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza,

and Moza became the father of Binea and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.

Azel had six sons whose names are these: Azrikam, Bocheru and Ishmael and Sheariah and Obadiah and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

^(a)Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

The Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, ^[a](b)Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.

The battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers ^[b]overtook him; and he was wounded by the archers.

Then Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and abuse me." But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. ^(c)Therefore Saul took his sword and fell on it.

When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword and died.

^(d)Thus Saul died with his three sons, and all those of his house died together.

When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.

It came about the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

^(e)So they stripped him and took his head and his armor and sent messengers around the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people.

They put his armor in the house of their gods and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.

When all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

^(f)all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

^(g)So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord , because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also ^(h)because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it,

and did not inquire of the Lord . Therefore He killed him and ⁽ⁱ⁾turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.

^(a)Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron ^[a]and said, "Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.

In times past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘^(b)You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be prince over My people Israel.'"

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord ; and ^(c)they anointed David king over Israel, ^(d)according to the word of the Lord through Samuel.

Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (^(e)that is, Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there.

The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, "You shall not enter here." Nevertheless David captured the stronghold of Zion (that is, the city of David).

Now David had said, "Whoever strikes down a Jebusite first shall be chief and commander." ^(f)Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief.

Then David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David.

He ^[b]built the city all around, from the ^[c]Millo even to the surrounding area; and Joab ^[d]repaired the rest of the city.

^(g)David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.

^(h)Now these are the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, ⁽ⁱ⁾according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel.

These constitute the list of the mighty men whom David had: ^(j)Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, ^(k)the chief of the thirty; he lifted up his spear against three hundred ^[e]whom he killed at one time.

After him was Eleazar the son of ^(l)Dodo, the Ahohite, who was ^[f]one of the three mighty men.

He was with David at ^[g]Pasdammim ^(m)when the Philistines were gathered together there to battle, and there was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled before the Philistines.

They took their stand in the midst of the plot and defended it, and struck down the Philistines; and the Lord saved them by a great ^[h]victory.

Now three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while ⁽ⁿ⁾the army of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim.

David was then in the stronghold, while ^(o)the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

David had a craving and said, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!"

So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David; nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord ;

and he said, "Be it far from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men who went ^[i]at the risk of their lives? For at the risk of their lives they brought it." Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

As for ^[j]Abshai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the ^[k]thirty, and he swung his spear against three hundred ^[l]and killed them; and he had a name as well as the ^[m]thirty.

Of the three in the second rank he was the most honored and became their commander; however, he did not attain to the first three.

^(p)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, mighty in deeds, struck down the ^[n]two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and ^[o]killed a lion inside a pit on a snowy day.

He ^[p]killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature five ^[q]cubits tall. Now in the Egyptian's hand was ^(q)a spear like a weaver's beam, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and ^[r]killed him with his own spear.

These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men.

Behold, he was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three; and David appointed him over his guard.

Now the mighty men of the armies were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

^[s]Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the ^[t]Pelonite,

Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,

^[u]Sibbecai the Hushathite, ^[v]Ilai the Ahohite,

Maharai the Netophathite, ^[w]Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite,

Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite,

^[x]Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, ^[y]Abiel the Arbathite,

Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

the sons of ^[z]Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite,

Ahiam the son of ^[aa]Sacar the Hararite, ^[ab]Eliphal the son of Ur,

Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,

Hezro the Carmelite, ^[ac]Naarai the son of Ezbai,

Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri,

Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah,

Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai,

Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him,

Hanan the son of Maacah and Joshaphat the Mithnite,

Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,

Jediael the son of Shimri and Joha his brother, the Tizite,

Eliel the Mahavite and Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite,

Eliel and Obed and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

^(a)Now these are the ones who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still restricted because of Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men who helped him in war.

They were equipped with bows, ^(b)using both the right hand and the left to sling stones and to shoot arrows from the bow; ^(c)they were Saul's kinsmen from Benjamin.

The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth, and Beracah and Jehu the Anathothite,

and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty. ^[a]Then Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite,

^[b]Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite,

Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, Jashobeam, the Korahites,

and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

From the Gadites there ^[c]came over to David in the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, and whose faces were like the faces of lions, and ^(d)they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains.

Ezer was the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh.

These of the sons of Gad were ^[d]captains of the army; ^(e)he who was least was equal to a hundred and the greatest to a thousand.

^(f)These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks and they put to flight all those in the valleys, both to the east and to the west.

Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David.

David went out to meet them, and said to them, "If you come peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no ^[e]wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on it and decide."

Then ^(g)the Spirit ^[f]came upon ^(h)Amasai, who was the chief of the thirty, and he said, "We are yours, O David, And with you, O son of Jesse! ⁽ⁱ⁾Peace, peace to you, And peace to him who helps you; Indeed, your God helps you!" Then David received them and made them ^[g]captains of the band.

^(j)From Manasseh also some defected to David when he was about to go to battle with the Philistines against Saul. But they did not help them, for the lords of the Philistines after consultation sent him away, saying, "At the cost of our heads he may defect to his master Saul."

As he went to Ziklag there defected to him from Manasseh: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai, ^[h]captains of thousands who belonged to Manasseh.

They helped David against ^(k)the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor, and were captains in the army.

For day by day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army ^(l)like the army of God.

Now these are the numbers of the ^[i]divisions equipped for war, ^(m)who came to David at Hebron, ⁽ⁿ⁾to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, ^(o)according to the ^[j]word of the Lord .

The sons of Judah who bore shield and spear were 6,800, equipped for war.

Of the sons of Simeon, mighty men of valor for war, 7,100.

Of the sons of Levi 4,600.

Now Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron, and with him were 3,700,

also ^(p)Zadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father's house twenty-two captains.

Of the sons of Benjamin, ^(q)Saul's kinsmen, 3,000; for until now ^(r)the greatest part of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul.

Of the sons of Ephraim 20,800, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers' households.

Of the half-tribe of Manasseh 18,000, who were designated by name to come and make David king.

Of the sons of Issachar, ^(s)men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command.

Of Zebulun, there were 50,000 who went out in the army, who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David ^[k]with ^(t)an undivided heart.

Of Naphtali there were 1,000 captains, and with them 37,000 with shield and spear.

Of the Danites who could draw up in battle formation, there were 28,600.

Of Asher there were 40,000 who went out in the army to draw up in battle formation.

From the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites and the Gadites and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, there were 120,000 with all kinds of weapons of war for the battle.

All these, being men of war who could draw up in battle formation, came to Hebron with ^(u)a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest also of Israel were of one mind to make David king.

They were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen had prepared for them.

Moreover those who were near to them, even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, ^(v)brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and on oxen, great quantities of flour cakes, fig cakes and bunches of raisins, wine, oil, oxen and sheep. There was joy indeed in Israel.

Then David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader.

David said to all the assembly of Israel, "If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send everywhere to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may meet with us;

and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, ^(a)for we did not seek it in the days of Saul."

Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

^(b)So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt even to the entrance of Hamath, ^(c)to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

^(d)David and all Israel went up to ^(e)Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, the Lord ^(f)who is enthroned above the cherubim, where His name is called.

They ^[a]carried the ark of God on a new cart from ^(g)the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart.

David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, ^(h)even with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals and with trumpets.

When they came to ⁽ⁱ⁾the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, because the oxen nearly upset it.

The anger of the Lord burned against Uzza, so He struck him down ^(j)because he put out his hand to the ark; ^(k)and he died there before God.

Then David became angry because ^[b]of the Lord's outburst against Uzza; and he called that place ^[c]Perez-uzza to this day.

David was afraid of God that day, saying, "How can I bring the ark of God home to me?"

So David did not take the ark with him to the city of David, but took it aside ^(l)to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

Thus the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months; and ^(m)the Lord blessed the family of Obed-edom with all that he had.

^(a)Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees, masons and carpenters, to build a house for him.

And David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted, for the sake of His people Israel.

Then David took more wives at Jerusalem, and David ^[a]became the father of more sons and daughters.

^(b)These are the names of the children ^[b]born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet,

Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia,

Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David; and David heard of it and went out against them.

Now the Philistines had come and ^(c)made a raid in the valley of Rephaim.

David inquired of God, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You give them into my hand?" Then the Lord said to him, "Go up, for I will give them into your hand."

So they came up to Baal-perazim, and David ^[c]defeated them there; and David said, "God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters." Therefore they named that place ^[d]Baal-perazim.

They abandoned their gods there; so David gave the order and they were burned with fire.

The Philistines made ^(d)yet another raid in the valley.

David inquired again of God, and God said to him, "You shall not go up after them; circle around ^[e]behind them and come at them in front of the ^[f]balsam trees.

It shall be when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines."

David did just as God had commanded him, and they struck down the army of the Philistines from ^[g]Gibeon even as far as Gezer.

Then the fame of David went out into all the lands; and ^(e)the Lord brought the fear of him on all the nations.

Now David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and ^(a)pitched a tent for it.

Then David said, "^(b)No one is to carry the ark of God but the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of God and to minister to Him forever."

And ^(c)David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord ^(d)to its place which he had prepared for it.

David gathered together the sons of Aaron and ^(e)the Levites:

of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and 120 of his ^[a]relatives;

of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and 220 of his relatives;

of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and 130 of his relatives;

of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and 200 of his relatives;

of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and 80 of his relatives;

of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and 112 of his relatives.

Then David called for ^(f)Zadok and ^(g)Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab,

and said to them, "You are the heads of the fathers' households of the Levites; ^(h)consecrate yourselves both you and your relatives, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel ⁽ⁱ⁾to the place that I have prepared for it.

^(j)Because you did not carry it at the first, the Lord our God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance."

^(k)So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.

The sons of ^(l)the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles thereon, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord .

Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites ^(m)to appoint their relatives the singers, with instruments of music, harps, lyres, loud-sounding cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.

So ⁽ⁿ⁾the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and from his relatives, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah,

and with them their relatives of the second rank, Zechariah, ^[b]Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.

So the singers, Heman, Asaph and Ethan were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of bronze;

and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah, with ^[c]harps tuned to ^(o)alamoth;

and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel and Azaziah, to lead with ^[d]lyres tuned to ^(p)the sheminith.

Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful.

Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.

Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer, the priests, ^(q)blew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were gatekeepers for the ark.

^(r)So it was David, with the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands, who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from ^(s)the house of Obed-edom with joy.

Because God was helping the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord , they sacrificed ^(t)seven bulls and seven rams.

Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. ^(u)David also wore an ephod of linen.

Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres.

It happened when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, that ^(v)Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart.

And they brought in the ark of God and ^(a)placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord .

He distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread and a portion of meat and a raisin cake.

He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord , even to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel:

Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then ^[a]Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals,