2Sa 6 | EE | STEP | David chose 30,000 of the best soldiers in Israel.

2 Samuel 6

David brings the Covenant Box to Jerusalem

1 David chose 30,000 of the best soldiers in Israel. 2 David brought them with him to Baalah in Judah. He wanted to bring God’s Covenant Box from there. The Israelites called it by the LORD‘s name, the name of the LORD Almighty. He is the LORD who sits as King between the two angels. 3 They put the Covenant Box on a new cart and they brought it from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Abinadab’s sons, Uzzah and Ahio led the new cart. 4 And they took the cart from the house of Abinadab, which is in the hill. And the cart had the Covenant Box on it. Ahio walked in front of the Covenant Box. 5 David and all Israel’s people were singing as well as they could. And they were dancing as well as they could. They meant that the LORD is very great. They made music with harps, lyres, drums, rattles and cymbals. ^{▼▼6:5 These things all make music. People hit drums with sticks and they hit two cymbals together. They move rattles about very fast to make a noise. And harps and lyres have long thin pieces of material to pull.}

6 They came to the place where Nacon always hit his wheat. He hit it until the seeds fell out. There the male cows nearly fell. So Uzzah held the Covenant Box to stop it falling. 7 The LORD was very angry with Uzzah because he did that. He was not honouring the LORD. So God knocked him down and he died there, next to the Covenant Box.

8 Then David was angry because the LORD had punished Uzzah. So that place is still called Perez Uzzah. ^{▼▼6:8 The male cows were pulling the cart. Perez Uzzah means ‘punishment of Uzzah’.}

9 On that day, David became afraid of the LORD. He said, ‘I do not know how the LORD‘s Covenant Box can ever come to me!’ 10 He did not want to take the LORD‘s Covenant Box in to be with him in David’s City. He took it instead into the house of Obed-Edom, from Gath. 11 The LORD‘s Covenant Box stayed in his house for three months. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and the people in his house and everything that he had. ^{▼▼6:11 That was because the Covenant Box was with him.}

12 People told King David, ‘The LORD has blessed the people in Obed-Edom’s house and all that he has, because of the Covenant Box.’ So David went. And he was happy to bring up the Covenant Box from Obed-Edom’s house to the City of David. 13 The men who were carrying it walked 6 steps. Then David sacrificed a fat young male and a big male cow. And they continued like that. 14 David wore a linen coat like those that the priests wore. And he jumped as well as he could for the LORD. And he danced too. 15 That is how he and all Israel brought the Covenant Box with them. They shouted and they made a noise with trumpets.

16 While they where bringing the Covenant Box into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked out of a window. She saw King David. He was jumping and he was dancing in front of the LORD. And she felt ashamed of him.

17 David had put up a tent for the Covenant Box. So they brought it and they put it in its place inside the tent. Then David sacrificed offerings in front of the LORD. They burnt some of these. But they shared some offerings with each other. 18 After he finished this, he blessed the people. He used the name of the great and powerful LORD, when he blessed them. 19 Then he gave a gift to every man and woman in the crowd of the Israelites. They each received a loaf of bread and a cake of dates and a cake of grapes that someone had dried. And all the people went to their homes.

20 When David returned to his home to bless it, Saul’s daughter Michal, came out to meet him. She said, ‘The king of Israel seemed very great today! He showed too much of himself in front of his servant’s slave girls. A silly fool does that! And he thinks that it does not matter.’

21 David said to Michal, ‘I was honouring the LORD who chose me to be the ruler of his people, Israel. He chose me and not your father or any of his family. So I danced in front of the LORD. 22 I will make myself even less important than this, and I will make myself seem very small to myself. But I will seem very great to the slave girls that you spoke about.’

23 And Michal, Saul’s daughter, had no children all her life.