Study Desk

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, [that is,] the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away into exile—the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh—and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, [where they remain] to this day.

Their relatives the Levites [who were not descended from Aaron] were appointed for all the other kinds of service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away into exile to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness [to God].

Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God;

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

for these Levites, the four chief gatekeepers, had an official duty, and were in charge of the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.

They spent the night around the house of God, for the [night] watch was theirs, and they were in charge of opening the house morning after morning.

"In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel; and the LORD your God said to you, 'You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be prince and leader over My people Israel.'"

and he said, "Far be it from me before my God that I would do this thing! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For they brought it at the risk of their lives." So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

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

Then the [Holy] Spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, "We are yours, O David, And with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace be to you, And peace be to him who helps you; For your God helps you." Then David accepted and received them and made them officers of his troops.

For day by day men kept coming to David to help him, until there was a great army, like the army of God.

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 word everywhere to our fellow countrymen who remain in all the land of Israel, and to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, so that they may meet with us;

and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it during the days of Saul."

So David gathered all Israel together, from the Shihor [watercourse] of Egypt, to the entrance of Hamath [in the north], to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD who sits enthroned above the cherubim, the ark which is called by His name.

They carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio [his brother] drove the cart.

David and all Israel celebrated [joyfully] before God with all their might, with songs, lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

The anger of the LORD burned against Uzza, and He struck him down because he touched the ark; and there he died before God.

David was afraid of God that day, and he said, "How can I bring the ark of God home with me?"