The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

151 And David made houses for himself in the town of David; and he got ready a place for the ark of God, and put up a tent for it. 2 Then David said, The ark of God may not be moved by any but the Levites, for they have been marked out by God to take the ark of God, and to do his work for ever. 3 And David made all Israel come together at Jerusalem, to take the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had got ready for it. 4 And David got together the sons of Aaron, and the Levites; 5 Of the sons of Kohath: Uriel the chief, and his brothers, a hundred and twenty; 6 Of the sons of Merari: Asaiah the chief, and his brothers, two hundred and twenty; 7 Of the sons of Gershom: Joel the chief, and his brothers, a hundred and thirty; 8 Of the sons of Elizaphan: Shemaiah the chief, and his brothers, two hundred; 9 Of the sons of Hebron: Eliel the chief, and his brothers, eighty; 10 Of the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab the chief, and his brothers, a hundred and twelve. 11 And David sent for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, Uriel, Asaiah and Joel, Shemaiah and Eliel and Amminadab, 12 And said to them, You are the heads of the families of the Levites: make yourselves holy, you and your brothers, so that you may take the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place which I have made ready for it. 13 For because you did not take it at the first, the Lord our God sent punishment on us, because we did not get directions from him in the right way. 14 So the priests and the Levites made themselves holy to take up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 And the sons of the Levites took up the ark of God, lifting it by its rods, as the Lord had said to Moses. 16 And David gave orders to the chief of the Levites to put their brothers the music-makers in position, with instruments of music, corded instruments and brass, with glad voices making sounds of joy. 17 So 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, were put in position by the Levites; 18 And with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Bani and Jaaziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Unni, Eliab and Benaiah and Maaseiah and Mattithiah and Eliphelehu and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom and Jeiel, the door-keepers. 19 So those who made melody, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were put in position, with brass instruments, sounding loudly; 20 And Zechariah and Aziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel, Unni and Eliab and Maaseiah and Benaiah, with corded instruments put to Alamoth. 21 And Mattithiah and Eliphelehu and Mikneiah and Obed-edom and Jeiel and Azaziah, with corded instruments on the octave, to give the first note of the song. 22 And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was master of the music: he gave directions about the song, because he was expert. 23 And Berechiah and Elkanah were door-keepers for the ark. 24 And Shebaniah and Joshaphat and Nethanel and Amasai and Zechariah and Benaiah and Eliezer, the priests, made music on the horns before the ark of God; and Obed-edom and Jehiah were door-keepers for the ark.

25 So David, and the responsible men of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went with joy to get the ark of the agreement of the Lord out of the house of Obed-edom. 26 And when God gave help to the Levites who were lifting up the ark of the agreement of the Lord, they made an offering of seven oxen and seven sheep. 27 And David was clothed with a robe of fair linen, as were all the Levites who took up the ark, and those who made melody, and Chenaniah the master of those who made melody; and David had on a linen ephod; 28 So all Israel took up the ark of the agreement of the Lord, with loud cries and with horns and brass and corded instruments sounding loudly. 29 And when the ark of the agreement of the Lord came into the town of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looking out of the window, saw King David dancing and playing; and to her mind he seemed foolish.

161 Then they took in the ark of God and put it inside the tent which David had put up for it; and they made offerings, burned offerings and peace-offerings before God. 2 And when David had come to an end of making the burned offerings and peace-offerings, he gave the people a blessing in the name of the Lord. 3 And he gave to everyone, every man and woman of Israel, a cake of bread, some meat, and a cake of dry grapes. 4 And he put some of the Levites before the ark of the Lord as servants, to keep the acts of the Lord in memory, and to give worship and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel: 5 Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Uzziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Mattithiah and Eliab and Benaiah and Obed-edom and Jeiel, with corded instruments of music; and Asaph, with brass instruments sounding loudly; 6 And Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests, blowing horns all the time before the ark of the agreement of God.

David's Psalm of Thanksgiving

7 Then on that day David first made the giving of praise to the Lord the work of Asaph and his brothers. 8 O give praise to the Lord; give honour to his name, talking of his doings among the peoples. 9 Let your voice be sounded in songs and melody; let all your thoughts be of the wonder of his works. 10 Have glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who are searching after the Lord be glad. 11 Let your search be for the Lord and for his strength; let your hearts ever be turned to him. 12 Keep in mind the great works which he has done; his wonders, and the decisions of his mouth; 13 O you seed of Israel his servant, you children of Jacob, his loved ones. 14 He is the Lord our God: he is judge of all the earth. 15 He has kept his agreement in mind for ever, the word which he gave for a thousand generations; 16 The agreement which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac; 17 And he gave it to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an eternal agreement; 18 Saying, To you will I give the land of Canaan, the measured line of your heritage: 19 When you were still small in number, and strange in the land; 20 When they went about from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people; 21 He would not let anyone do them wrong; he even kept back kings because of them, 22 Saying, Put not your hand on those who have been marked with my holy oil, and do my prophets no wrong. 23 Make songs to the Lord, all the earth; give the good news of his salvation day by day. 24 Make clear his glory to the nations, and his wonders to all the peoples. 25 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; and he is more to be feared than all other gods. 26 For all the gods of the nations are false gods; but the Lord made the heavens. 27 Honour and glory are before him: strength and joy are in his holy place. 28 Give to the Lord, O you families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength. 29 Give to the Lord the glory of his name; take with you an offering and come before him; give worship to the Lord in holy robes. 30 Be in fear before him, all the earth: the world is ordered so that it may not be moved. 31 Let the heavens have joy and let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, The Lord is King. 32 Let the sea be thundering with all its waters; let the field be glad, and everything which is in it; 33 Then let all the trees of the wood be sounding with joy before the Lord, for he is come to be the judge of the earth. 34 O give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy is unchanging for ever. 35 And say, Be our saviour, O God of our salvation, and let us come back, and give us salvation from the nations, so that we may give honour to your holy name and have glory in your praise. 36 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for ever and for ever. And all the people said, So be it; and gave praise to the Lord.

The Levites Appointed for the Ark

37 So he made Asaph and his brothers keep their places there before the ark of the agreement of the Lord, to do whatever had to be done before the ark at all times day by day: 38 And Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, with their brothers, sixty-eight of them, to be door-keepers: 39 And Zadok the priest, with his brothers the priests, before the House of the Lord in the high place at Gibeon; 40 To give burned offerings to the Lord on the altar of burned offerings morning and evening, every day, as it is ordered in the law of the Lord which he gave to Israel; 41 And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were marked out by name to give praise to the Lord, for his mercy is unchanging for ever; 42 And Heman and Jeduthun had horns and brass instruments sounding loudly, and instruments of music for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun were to be at the door. 43 And all the people went away, every man to his house; and David went back to give a blessing to his family.

God's Covenant with David

171 Now when David was living in his house, he said to Nathan the prophet, See, I am living in a house of cedar-wood, but the ark of the Lord's agreement is under the curtains of a tent. 2 And Nathan said to David, Do whatever is in your heart, for God is with you. 3 But that same night, the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 Go and say to David my servant, The Lord says, You are not to make me a house for my living-place: 5 For from the day when I took Israel up, till this day, I have had no house, but have gone from tent to tent, and from living-place to living-place. 6 In all the places where I have gone with all Israel, did I ever say to any of the judges of Israel, whom I made the keepers of my people, Why have you not made for me a house of cedar? 7 So now, say to my servant David, The Lord of armies says, I took you from the fields, from keeping sheep, so that you might be a ruler over my people Israel; 8 And I have been with you wherever you went, cutting off before you all those who were against you; and I will make your name like the name of the greatest ones of the earth. 9 And I will make a resting-place for my people Israel, planting them there, so that they may be in the place which is theirs and never again be moved; and never again will they be made waste by evil men, as they were at first, 10 From the time when I put judges over my people Israel; and I will overcome all those who are against you; and I will make you great and the head of a line of kings. 11 And when the time comes for you to go to your fathers, I will put in your place your seed after you, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong. 12 He will be the builder of my house, and I will make the seat of his authority certain for ever. 13 I will be to him a father and he will be to me a son; and I will not take my mercy away from him as I took it from him who was before you; 14 But I will make his place in my house and in my kingdom certain for ever; and the seat of his authority will never be overturned. 15 So Nathan gave David an account of all these words and this vision.

16 Then David the king went in and took his seat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have been my guide till now? 17 And this was only a small thing to you, O God; but your words have even been about the far-off future of your servant's family, looking on me as on one of high position, O Lord God. 18 What more may David say to you? for you have knowledge of your servant. 19 O Lord, because of your servant, and from your heart, you have done all these great things and let them be seen. 20 O Lord, there is no one like you, and no other God but you, as is clear from everything which has come to our ears. 21 And what other nation in the earth, like your people Israel, did a god go out to take for himself, to be his people, making his name great and to be feared, driving out the nations from before your people whom you made free and took out of Egypt? 22 For your people Israel you made yours for ever; and you, Lord, became their God. 23 And now, Lord, let your words about your servant and about his family be made certain for ever, and do as you have said. 24 So let your words be made certain and your name be made great, when men say, The Lord of armies is the God of Israel; and when the family of David your servant is made strong before you. 25 For you, O my God, have let your servant see that you will make him head of a line of kings; and so it has come into your servant's heart to make his prayer to you. 26 And now, O Lord, you are God, and you have said you will give this good thing to your servant: 27 And now you have been pleased to give your blessing to the family of your servant, so that it may go on for ever before you; you, O Lord, have given your blessing, and a blessing will be on it for ever.