David Fetches the Ark (1 Chronicles 13:1–7)
2 UST He led them to the city of Baalah in Judah so that they could bring the sacred chest from there to Jerusalem. People call that chest“The Box of Yahweh, the Commander of the Heavenly Armies.” Yahweh himself is invisibly present between the statues of the winged creatures on top of it. BSB BSB: And he and all his troops set out for Baale of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name—the name of the LORD of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.
3 UST They went to the hilltop house of Abinadab. They used a new cart to carry the chest from there. Two oxen were pulling the cart, and Abinadab’ s two sons Uzzah and Ahio were guiding them. BSB BSB: They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart,
4 UST In order to bring the sacred chest from Abinadab’ s hilltop house, Ahio walked in front of the cart{, while Uzzah walked alongside it}. BSB BSB: bringing with it the ark of God. And Ahio was walking in front of the ark.
Uzzah Touches the Ark (1 Chronicles 13:8–14)
5 UST David and his soldiers and a large crowd of other Israelites were singing and dancing in Yahweh’ s presence. People were playing musical instruments to accompany the singing and dancing, including wooden instruments, harps, lyres, tambourines, rattles, and cymbals. BSB BSB: David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
6 UST But when they came to the place in the area of Nacon where people threshed grain, the oxen tripped.{ Because that made the cart tilt so that the sacred chest might have fallen off of it,} Uzzah put his hand on the sacred chest to steady it. BSB BSB: When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled.
9 UST Then David became afraid of{ what else} Yahweh{ might do to punish them}, and he said,“It is too dangerous for me to try to bring the sacred chest to where I live in Jerusalem!” BSB BSB: That day David feared the LORD and asked, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”
10 UST So David decided not to bring the sacred chest to the City of David where he lived. Instead, he had the people take it into a house that was there by the road. A man whose name was Obed Edom the Gittite lived in that house. BSB BSB: So he was unwilling to move the ark of the LORD to the City of David; instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
11 UST The sacred chest stayed in the house of Obed Edom for the next three months. During that time, Yahweh made good things happen for him and his whole family. BSB BSB: Thus the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and all his household.
The Ark Brought to Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 15:1–28)
12 UST After that time, people told King David,“Because Obed Edom is taking care of the sacred chest, Yahweh is making good things happen for his family and all of his servants!” When David heard that, he{ gathered many of the Levites and} went to Obed Edom’ s house. Together they very joyfully brought the sacred chest from there to the City of David. BSB BSB: Now it was reported to King David, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing.
13 UST On the way, once the Levites who were carrying the sacred chest had taken their first six steps, David had them stop. Right at that place, David killed a bull and a fat calf and offered them to Yahweh as sacrifices. BSB BSB: When those carrying the ark of the LORD had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.
14 UST David was wearing just a plain linen robe. He danced to honor Yahweh, leaping as high as he could and whirling around fast. BSB BSB: And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD,
15 UST David and a large crowd of Israelites brought the sacred chest to Jerusalem, shouting loudly and blowing ram’ s horns. BSB BSB: while he and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sounding of the ram’s horn.
Michal’s Contempt for David (1 Chronicles 15:29–16:3)
16 UST While they were bringing the sacred chest into the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul{, his wife, was on an upper floor of her house. She} looked through a window down onto the street. She saw{ her husband} King David leaping and whirling to honor Yahweh. That made her feel disgusted with him{ because she did not think a king should dress and act that way}. BSB BSB: As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.
17 UST David had put up a tent for the sacred chest, and the Levites carried the sacred chest into it and set it up there. Then David made some offerings to Yahweh that he completely burned on an altar. He made other offerings whose meat the people could share at a meal to celebrate this happy occasion. BSB BSB: So they brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
18 UST When David finished offering those sacrifices, he asked Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, to do good things for the people. BSB BSB: When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of Hosts.
19 UST Then he gave special gifts of food to all the Israelites who had come for the celebration. To each man and woman he gave a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. Then they all returned to their homes. BSB BSB: Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each to his own home.
20 UST Then David went home to ask Yahweh to do good things for his family.{ His wife} Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him. She told him,“As the king of Israel, you should not have acted so disgracefully today! You took off almost all of your clothes, and you let the female servants of your officials see you that way! Only immoral men take off their clothes in public as you did.” BSB BSB: When David returned home to bless his own household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today!” she said. “He has uncovered himself today in the sight of the maidservants of his subjects, like a vulgar person would do.”
21 UST David replied to Michal,“I danced in that simple way in order to honor Yahweh! He chose me instead of your father or any member of his family to be the king of the Israelite people, who belong to him. I was celebrating to honor Yahweh! BSB BSB: But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the LORD,
22 UST And so I am willing to act even more humbly than that. I will do things that seem undignified. But those female servants you were talking about will respect me{ as a king who serves Yahweh devotedly}!” BSB BSB: and I will humiliate and humble myself even more than this. Yet I will be honored by the maidservants of whom you have spoken.”
23 UST Michal daughter of Saul did not have children for as long as she lived. BSB BSB: And Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
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