2 Samuel 6

¹Then David conferred with all his leaders, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds.

²And he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is of the Lord our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers in all the land of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites in their cities and pasturelands, so that they may join us.

⁶David and all Israel went up to Baalah of Judah (that is, Kiriath-jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name.

⁷So they carried the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding the cart.

¹At that time Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Zion, the City of David.

¹A song of ascents. O Lord, remember on behalf of David all the hardships he endured,

²how he swore an oath to the Lord, and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:

⁴So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

¹For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

⁵So David assembled all Israel, from the River Shihor in Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

⁶David and all Israel went up to Baalah of Judah (that is, Kiriath-jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name.

¹⁸Make two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat,

¹⁹one cherub on one end and one on the other, all made from one piece of gold.

¹Then the men of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the Lord and took it into Abinadab’s house on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to guard the ark of the Lord.

¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

⁷Now, therefore, prepare one new cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.

⁴And the Lord said to Moses,

⁵“Accept these gifts from them, that they may be used in the work of the Tent of Meeting. And give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.”

⁷So they carried the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding the cart.

¹Then the men of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the Lord and took it into Abinadab’s house on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to guard the ark of the Lord.

²And from that day a long time passed, twenty years in all, as the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim. And all the house of Israel mournfully sought the Lord.

³Praise Him with the sound of the horn; praise Him with the harp and lyre.

⁴Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute.

⁸David and all the Israelites were celebrating before God with all their might, with songs and on harps and lyres, with tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

²³Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

²⁵The singers lead the way, the musicians follow after, among the maidens playing tambourines.

²⁶Bless God in the great congregation; bless the Lord from the fountain of Israel.

¹⁰and from the Uzzielites, Amminadab the chief and 112 of his relatives.

¹¹David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.

⁵As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

⁹When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark, because the oxen had stumbled.

¹⁵When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁹In order that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and what he is to carry.

²⁰But the Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, or they will die.”

¹⁹But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck them with a great slaughter.

¹³It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the Lord our God burst forth in anger against us. For we did not consult Him about the proper order.”

¹⁰And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and He struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.

²Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him forever.”

³⁰That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

³¹Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment.

¹Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to His command.

²So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the Lord.

¹¹Then David became angry because the Lord had burst forth against Uzzah. So he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.

¹²That day David feared God and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?”

¹Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.

⁹Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”

¹²⁰My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.

¹¹Then David became angry because the Lord had burst forth against Uzzah. So he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.

¹²That day David feared God and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?”

¹²Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!

¹³Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to perish?”

²⁰The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?”

²⁷But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

¹⁰So they sent the ark of God to Ekron, but as it arrived, the Ekronites cried out, “They have brought us the ark of the God of Israel in order to kill us and our people!”

¹¹Then the Ekronites called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel. It must return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people!” For a deadly confusion had pervaded the city; the hand of God was very heavy upon it.

⁴And Obed-edom also had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth,

⁵Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, and Peullethai the eighth. For God had blessed Obed-edom.

¹³So he did not move the ark with him to the City of David; instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

¹⁴Thus the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he owned.

¹⁹Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland.

⁵Asaph was the chief, Zechariah was second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. They were to play the harps and lyres, while Asaph sounded the cymbals

³because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have lived there as foreigners to this day.

¹⁸and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.

⁵From the time that he put Joseph in charge of his household and all he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s household on account of him. The Lord’s blessing was on everything he owned, both in his house and in his field.

²⁷But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”

⁹Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;

¹⁰then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

¹⁰Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.

²³The warden did not concern himself with anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

²⁵So David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went with rejoicing to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom.

¹At that time Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Zion, the City of David.

⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

²⁴They have seen Your procession, O God—the march of my God and King into the sanctuary.

²⁵The singers lead the way, the musicians follow after, among the maidens playing tambourines.

⁷Lift up your heads, O gates! Be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may enter!

⁸Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

⁶We heard that the ark was in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar.

⁷Let us go to His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool.

¹⁵And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.

⁵There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

¹⁵When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.

⁹But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since they were to carry on their shoulders the holy objects for which they were responsible.

²Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him forever.”

³and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.

¹⁸Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod.

²⁰Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.

³Let them praise His name with dancing, and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.

⁴Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute.

³⁴And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.

²³Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, as for the Lord and not for men,

²⁴They have seen Your procession, O God—the march of my God and King into the sanctuary.

²⁵The singers lead the way, the musicians follow after, among the maidens playing tambourines.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout unto God with a voice of triumph.

⁴Have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark. Then on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the horns.

⁵And when there is a long blast of the ram’s horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and all your people will charge straight into the city.”

¹Then the Lord said to Moses,

²“Make two trumpets of hammered silver to be used for calling the congregation and for having the camps set out.

⁵God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord with the sound of the horn.

⁶Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises!

²⁵So David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went with rejoicing to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom.

¹⁴The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

²⁹As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁴Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

¹³But others mocked them and said, “They are drunk on new wine!”

⁷For I have endured scorn for Your sake, and shame has covered my face.

³He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

⁴Now David had brought the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.

¹David constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

⁸Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.

⁵There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

⁶²Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord.

⁶³And Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the Lord.

⁵And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

⁶The priests stood at their posts, as did the Levites with the musical instruments of the Lord, which King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord and with which David had offered praise, saying, “For His loving devotion endures forever.” Across from the Levites, the priests sounded trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.

²When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

⁵⁵And he stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

¹⁴And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all

²⁶When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

³And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all

²²Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having made the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down.

²³Moses and Aaron then entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.

¹⁰Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

⁶⁶On the fifteenth day Solomon sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things that the Lord had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.

²⁴For Hezekiah king of Judah contributed a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the officials contributed a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly, and a great number of priests consecrated themselves.

¹⁰On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the good things that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel.

¹⁷And it shall be the prince’s part to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—for all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.

⁸This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.”

¹⁶As 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.

¹⁴And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the Lord,

⁴So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him.

²¹When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.”

⁷but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.

⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

³Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

⁴Hear us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn back upon their own heads, and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity.

²²After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’

¹⁶As 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.

¹⁹You once spoke in a vision; to Your godly ones You said, “I have bestowed help on a warrior; I have exalted one chosen from the people.

²⁰I have found My servant David; with My sacred oil I have anointed him.

¹⁴But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of the Lord.”

²⁸So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.

⁷⁰He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;

⁷¹from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.

¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

⁷Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults.

¹⁵This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.

¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

⁶Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.”

²⁵But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a Son. And he gave Him the name Jesus.