15. Ark Brought to Jerusalem

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

15

David built houses for himself in the city of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.²Then David commanded that no one but the Levites were to carry the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever.³David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it.⁴Then David gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:⁵of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with one hundred twenty of his kindred;⁶of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with two hundred twenty of his kindred;⁷of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with one hundred thirty of his kindred;⁸of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with two hundred of his kindred;⁹of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with eighty of his kindred;¹⁰of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with one hundred twelve of his kindred.

¹¹ David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.¹²He said to them, “You are the heads of families of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your kindred, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.¹³Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God burst out against us, because we did not give it proper care.”¹⁴So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.¹⁵And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁶ David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their kindred as the singers to play on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise loud sounds of joy.¹⁷So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; and of his kindred Asaph son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their kindred, Ethan son of Kushaiah;¹⁸and with them their kindred of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.¹⁹The singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound bronze cymbals;²⁰Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth;²¹but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith.²²Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, was to direct the music, for he understood it.²³Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.²⁴Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were to be gatekeepers for the ark.

²⁵ So David and the elders of Israel, and the commanders of the thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing.²⁶And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.²⁷David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers; and David wore a linen ephod.²⁸So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.

²⁹ As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing; and she despised him in her heart.

1. Encouragement to Be Faithful

Salutation

 1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

² To Timothy, my beloved child:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thanksgiving and Encouragement

³ I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.⁶For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands;⁷for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

6. Psalm 6

Psalm 6

Prayer for Recovery from Grave Illness

To the leader: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

1

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,

or discipline me in your wrath.

2

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;

O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.

3

My soul also is struck with terror,

while you, O Lord—how long?

4

Turn, O Lord, save my life;

deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.

5

For in death there is no remembrance of you;

in Sheol who can give you praise?

6

I am weary with my moaning;

every night I flood my bed with tears;

I drench my couch with my weeping.

7

My eyes waste away because of grief;

they grow weak because of all my foes.

8

Depart from me, all you workers of evil,

for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

9

The Lord has heard my supplication;

the Lord accepts my prayer.

10

All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror;

they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.