1 Chronicles 15:1-24

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

15¹ After David built houses for himself in the City of David, he cleared a place for the Chest and pitched a tent for it. ² Then David gave orders: "No one carries the Chest of God except the Levites; God designated them and them only to carry the Chest of God and be available full time for service in the work of worship." ³ David then called everyone in Israel to assemble in Jerusalem to bring up the Chest of God to its specially prepared place. ⁴ David also called in the family of Aaron and the Levites. ⁵ From the family of Kohath, Uriel the head with 120 relatives; ⁶ from the family of Merari, Asaiah the head with 220 relatives; ⁷ from the family of Gershon, Joel the head with 130 relatives; ⁸ from the family of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the head with 200 relatives; ⁹ from the family of Hebron, Eliel the head with 80 relatives; ¹⁰ from the family of Uzziel, Amminadab the head with 112 relatives. ¹¹ Then David called in Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab the Levites. ¹² He said, "You are responsible for the Levitical families; now consecrate yourselves, both you and your relatives, and bring up the Chest of the God of Israel to the place I have set aside for it. ¹³ The first time we did this, you Levites did not carry it properly, and God exploded in anger at us because we didn't make proper preparation and follow instructions." ¹⁴ So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the Chest of the God of Israel. ¹⁵ The Levites carried the Chest of God exactly as Moses, instructed by God, commanded - carried it with poles on their shoulders, careful not to touch it with their hands. ¹⁶ David ordered the heads of the Levites to assign their relatives to sing in the choir, accompanied by a well-equipped marching band, and fill the air with joyful sound. ¹⁷ The Levites assigned Heman son of Joel, and from his family, Asaph son of Berekiah, then Ethan son of Kushaiah from the family of Merari, ¹⁸ and after them in the second rank their brothers Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel as security guards. ¹⁹ The members of the choir and marching band were: Heman, Asaph, and Ethan with bronze cymbals; ²⁰ Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah with lyres carrying the melody; ²¹ Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah with harps filling in the harmony; ²² Kenaniah, the Levite in charge of music, a very gifted musician, was music director. ²³ Berekiah and Elkanah were porters for the Chest. ²⁴ The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer blew the trumpets before the Chest of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also porters for the Chest.