Preparing to Move the Ark
(2 Samuel 6:12–15)

1And he built for himself houses in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. 2Then David said, “No one may carry the ark of God but only the Levites. For YHWH has chosen them to carry the ark of YHWH and to minister before Him even to forever.”

3And David gathered together all Israel to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of YHWH to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites:

5Of the sons of Kohath: Uriel the chief, and of his brothers a hundred and twenty;

6of the sons of Merari: Asaiah the chief, and of his brothers two hundred and twenty;

7of the sons of Gershom:† Joel the chief, and of his brothers a hundred and thirty;

8of the sons of Elizaphan: Shemaiah the chief, and of his brothers two hundred;

9of the sons of Hebron: Eliel the chief, and of his brothers eighty;

10of the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab the chief, and of his brothers a hundred and twelve.

11And David called to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and to the Levites, to Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, 12and He said to them, “You⁺ are heads of the fathers of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, you⁺ and your⁺ brothers, that you⁺ may bring up the ark of YHWH, God of Israel, to where I have prepared for it. 13And because at the first it was not you⁺ not, YHWH our God broke out against us because we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.”

The Priests and Levites Carry the Ark

14And the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of YHWH, God of Israel; 15and the sons of the Levites carried the ark of God, as Moses had commanded according to the word of YHWH, on their shoulders with the poles on them.

16And David spoke to the heads of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers with instruments of song, stringed instruments, and harps, and cymbals, resounding to lift up the voice with joy. 17And the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan son of Kushaiah; 18and with them their brothers of the second rank: Zechariah, and Jaaziel,† and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom and Jeiel the gatekeepers.†

19And the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, with cymbals of brass to sound; 20and Zechariah, and Aziel,† and Shemiramoth, and Jeheil, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to Alamoth;† 21and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with lyres according to Sheminith,† to oversee. 22And Chenaniah head of the Levites was over the lifting up of song; he instructed in the lifting up, because he was skillful.

23And Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers† for the ark. 24And Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests were to blow the trumpets before the face of the ark of God. And Obed-edom and Jehiah were gatekeepers for the ark.

Moving the Ark to Jerusalem

25And it came to pass that David and the elders of Israel and the chiefs of the thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of YHWH from the house of Obed-edom with joy. 26And it came to pass, in God helping the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of YHWH, that they offered seven bulls and seven rams.

27And David was wrapped in a robe of fine linen, and were all the Levites who bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah head of the lifting up of the singers. And on David was an Ephod of linen. 28And all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of YHWH with shouting, and with the sound of the shofar, and with the trumpets, and with cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps.

Michal’s Contempt for David
(2 Samuel 6:16)

29And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of YHWH came to the City of David, that Michal daughter of Saul looked through the window and saw King David dancing and playing music; and she despised him in her heart.

Footnotes:

7 Gershom is a variant of Gershon; see 1 Chronicles 23:7.
18 Several Hebrew manuscripts and most LXX manuscripts (see also verse 20 and 1 Chronicles 16:5); most Hebrew manuscripts Zechariah son of Jaaziel or Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel
18 Hebrew; some LXX manuscripts Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah or Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Ozias
20 Aziel is a variant of Jaaziel; see verse 18.
20 Alamoth is probably a musical or liturgical term; here and in Psalm 46:1.
21 Sheminith is probably a musical term; here and in Psalm 6:1 and Psalm 12:1.
23 Or guardians; also in verse 24