David moves the Ark of the Covenant.

DAVID MOVES THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

VERSE 1. David made himself houses in David’s city; and he prepared a place for God’s ark, and pitched a tent for it.

David made himself houses. In the previous chapter David built an opulent palace for himself,

Now he is building additional houses for himself.

Note that the text uses the plural: houses, not just one single house.

pitched a tent for it. David built an opulent palace for himself. And additional houses. But the Ark of the Covenant gets a tent.

VERSE 2. Then David said, “No one ought to carry God’s ark but the Levites. For the LORD has chosen them to carry God’s ark, and to minister to him forever.”

VERSE 3. David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the LORD’s ark to its place, which he had prepared for it.

David assembled all Israel. David gathers the whole nation for this spectacle.

VERSE 4. David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites:

VERSE 5. of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and his brothers one hundred twenty;

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

VERSE 7. of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and his brothers one hundred thirty;

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

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

VERSE 10. of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and his brothers one hundred twelve.

VERSE 11. David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab,

VERSE 12. and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, both you and your brothers, that you may bring the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, up to the place that I have prepared for it.

VERSE 13. For because you didn’t carry it at first, the LORD our God broke out in anger against us, because we didn’t seek him according to the ordinance.”

VERSE 14. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.

the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves. This is mandated in Numbers 8:5-13.

VERSE 15. The children of the Levites bore God’s ark on their shoulders with its poles, as Moses commanded according to the LORD’s word.

VERSE 16. David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers with instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up their voices with joy.

singers with instruments of music. This grand procession includes musicians and a choir.

VERSE 17. 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;

VERSE 18. and with them their brothers of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.

VERSE 19. So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were given cymbals of bronze to sound aloud;

VERSE 20. and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with stringed instruments set to Alamoth;

VERSE 21. and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the eight-stringed lyre, to lead.

VERSE 22. Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the singing. He taught the singers, because he was skillful.

VERSE 23. Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.

doorkeepers for the ark. They protect the ark.

VERSE 24. Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the shofars before God’s ark; and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.

the shofars. Or “trumpets.”

doorkeepers for the ark. They protect the ark.

VERSE 25. So David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant up out of the house of Obed-Edom with joy.

VERSE 26. When God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the LORD’s covenant, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

VERSE 27. David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the choir master with the singers; and David had an ephod of linen on him.

David was clothed with a robe of fine linen. David wore nothing but an ephod. It was an ornate bib that was roughly as long as a shirt with tails.

By only wearing the ephod, and by dancing, David is exposing his genitals to the world.

VERSE 28. Thus all Israel brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant up with shouting, with sound of the cornet, with shofars, and with cymbals, sounding aloud with stringed instruments and harps.

with shofars. Or “trumpets.”

VERSE 29. As the ark of the LORD’s covenant came to David’s city, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and she despised him in her heart.

she despised him in her heart. Michal despised David not for his dancing, but for exposing his genitals.

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1 CHRONICLES

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.

1 Chronicles chapter 15