Preparing to Move the Ark (2 Samuel 6:12–15)
3 AKJV And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD to his place, which he had prepared for it. BSB BSB: And David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to the place he had prepared for it.
4 AKJV And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites: BSB BSB: Then he gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:
5 AKJV Of the sons of Kohath; Uriel the chief, and his brothers an hundred and twenty: BSB BSB: From the Kohathites, Uriel the chief and 120 of his relatives;
6 AKJV Of the sons of Merari; Asaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred and twenty: BSB BSB: from the Merarites, Asaiah the chief and 220 of his relatives;
7 AKJV Of the sons of Gershom; Joel the chief and his brothers an hundred and thirty: BSB BSB: from the Gershomites, Joel the chief and 130 of his relatives;
8 AKJV Of the sons of Elizaphan; Shemaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred: BSB BSB: from the Elizaphanites, Shemaiah the chief and 200 of his relatives;
9 AKJV Of the sons of Hebron; Eliel the chief, and his brothers fourscore: BSB BSB: from the Hebronites, Eliel the chief and 80 of his relatives;
10 AKJV Of the sons of Uzziel; Amminadab the chief, and his brothers an hundred and twelve. BSB BSB: and from the Uzzielites, Amminadab the chief and 112 of his relatives.
11 AKJV And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, BSB BSB: David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.
12 AKJV And said to them, You are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both you and your brothers, that you may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it. BSB BSB: And he said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.
The Priests and Levites Carry the Ark 14 AKJV So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel. BSB BSB: So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.
15 AKJV And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD. BSB BSB: And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.
16 AKJV And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers to be the singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. BSB BSB: David also told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers to lift up their voices with joy, accompanied by musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals.
17 AKJV So 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; BSB BSB: So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;
18 AKJV And with them their brothers of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, the porters. BSB BSB: 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 AKJV So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass; BSB BSB: The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals.
20 AKJV And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries on Alamoth; BSB BSB: Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play the harps according to Alamoth.
21 AKJV And Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith to excel. BSB BSB: And Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres according to Sheminith.
22 AKJV And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was for song: he instructed about the song, because he was skillful. BSB BSB: Chenaniah the head Levite was the director of the music because he was highly skilled.
23 AKJV And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark. BSB BSB: Berechiah and Elkanah were to be guardians of the ark.
24 AKJV And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obededom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark. BSB BSB: Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer—the priests—were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also to be guardians of the ark.
Moving the Ark to Jerusalem 25 AKJV So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of Obededom with joy. BSB BSB: So David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went with rejoicing to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom.
26 AKJV And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams. BSB BSB: And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
27 AKJV And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also had on him an ephod of linen. BSB BSB: Now David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, as well as the singers and Chenaniah, the director of music for the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.
28 AKJV Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps. BSB BSB: So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and with cymbals and the music of harps and lyres.
Michal’s Contempt for David (2 Samuel 6:16)
29 AKJV And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal, the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart. BSB BSB: As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.
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