1Ch 15:15-28, 1Ch 16 | ESV | STEP | And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles , as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord .

15 And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders ^awith the poles, ^bas Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

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

25 ^mSo David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of ⁿObed-edom with rejoicing. 26 And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed ^oseven bulls and seven rams. 27 David 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. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, ^ptrumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on ^qharps and lyres.

1 Chronicles 16

The Ark Placed in a Tent

1 And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside ^rthe tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord 3 and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, ^{▼▼Compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} and a cake of raisins.

4 Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. 5 ^tAsaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God. 7 Then on that day ^uDavid first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brothers.

David’s Song of Thanks

8 ^vOh give thanks to the Lord; ^wcall upon his name;
^xmake known his deeds among the peoples!
9 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
10 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
11 ^ySeek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
12 ^zRemember the wondrous works that he has done,
^aahis miracles and the judgments he uttered,
13 O offspring of Israel his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
14 He is the Lord our God;
^abhis judgments are in all the earth.
15 Remember his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
16 the covenant ^acthat he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,
17 which ^adhe confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
18 saying, ^ae“To you I will give the land of Canaan,
as your portion for an inheritance.”
19 When you were ^affew in number,
of little account, and ^agsojourners in it,
20 wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
21 he allowed no one to oppress them;
he ^ahrebuked kings on their account,
22 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
do my ^aiprophets no harm!”
23 ^ajSing to the Lord, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
25 For ^akgreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and he is to be feared ^alabove all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
^ambut the Lord made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
^anascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him!
^aoWorship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; ^{▼▼Or in holy attire}
30 tremble before him, all the earth;
yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
31 ^aqLet the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
and let them say among the nations, ^ar“The Lord reigns!”
32 ^asLet the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it!
33 Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
34 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
35 ^atSay also:

“Save us, O God of our salvation,
and gather and deliver us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
36 ^auBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!”
^avThen all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

Worship Before the Ark

37 So David left Asaph and his brothers there ^awbefore the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister regularly before the ark ^axas each day required, 38 and also ^ayObed-edom and his ^{▼▼Hebrew their} sixty-eight brothers, while ^baObed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and ^bbHosah were to be gatekeepers. 39 And he left ^bcZadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord ^bdin the high place that was at Gibeon 40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord ^beon the altar of burnt offering ^bfregularly morning and evening, to do all that is written in the Law of the Lord that he commanded Israel. 41 With them were ^bgHeman and Jeduthun ^bhand the rest of those chosen and ^biexpressly named to give thanks to the Lord, ^bjfor his steadfast love endures forever. 42 Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments ^bkfor sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.

43 ^blThen all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household.