New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 David built houses for himself in Jerusalem. Then he prepared a place for the Ark of God, and he set up a tent for it.
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David erected buildings for himself in the City of David, prepared a place for the ark of God, and set up a tent for it.
2 David said, "Only the Levites may carry the Ark of God. The Lord chose them to carry the Ark of the Lord and to serve him forever."
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Then David said, "No one but the L'vi'im should carry the ark of God, because ADONAI chose them to carry the ark of ADONAI and to serve him forever."
3 David called all the people of Israel to come to Jerusalem. He wanted to bring the Ark of the Lord to the place he had made for it.
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David assembled all Isra'el in Yerushalayim to bring the ark of ADONAI up to its place, which he had prepared for it.
4 David called together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites.
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David gathered together the descendants of Aharon and the L'vi'im:
5 There were one hundred twenty people from Kohath's family group, with Uriel as their leader.
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from the descendants of K'hat: Uri'el the chief, and 120 of his kinsmen;
6 There were two hundred twenty people from Merari's family group, with Asaiah as their leader.
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from the descendants of M'rari: 'Asayah the chief, and 220 of his kinsmen;
7 There were one hundred thirty people from Gershon's family group, with Joel as their leader.
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from the descendants of Gershom: Yo'el the chief, and 130 of his kinsmen;
8 There were two hundred people from Elizaphan's family group, with Shemaiah as their leader.
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from the descendants of Elitzafan: Sh'ma'yah the chief, and 200 of his kinsmen;
9 There were eighty people from Hebron's family group, with Eliel as their leader.
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from the descendants of Hevron: Eli'el the chief, and eighty of his kinsmen;
10 And there were one hundred twelve people from Uzziel's family group, with Amminadab as their leader.
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and from the descendants of 'Uzi'el: 'Amminadav the chief, and 112 of his kinsmen.
11 Then David asked the priests Zadok and Abiathar and these Levites to come to him: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.
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David called for Tzadok and Evyatar the cohanim and for the L'vi'im - Uri'el, 'Asayah, Yo'el, Sh'ma'yah, Eli'el and 'Amminadav -
12 David said to them, "You are the leaders of the families of Levi. You and the other Levites must give yourselves for service to the Lord. Bring up the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have made for it.
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and said to them, "You are the clan leaders of the L'vi'im. Consecrate yourselves, both you and your kinsmen, to bring the ark of ADONAI the God of Isra'el up to the place I have prepared for it.
13 The last time we did not ask the Lord how to carry it. You Levites didn't carry it, so the Lord our God punished us."
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It's because you weren't there the first time that ADONAI our God broke out against us. We didn't seek him out according to the rule."
14 Then the priests and Levites prepared themselves for service to the Lord so they could carry the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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So the cohanim and L'vi'im consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of ADONAI the God of Isra'el;
15 The Levites used special poles to carry the Ark of God on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded, just as the Lord had said they should.
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and the L'vi'im carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on it, as Moshe had ordered, according to what ADONAI had said.
16 David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to play their lyres, harps, and cymbals and to sing happy songs.
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David spoke to the chief of the L'vi'im to appoint their kinsmen to be singers making use of musical instruments - lutes, lyres and cymbals - to play loudly and raise sounds of joy.
17 So the Levites appointed Heman and his relatives Asaph and Ethan. Heman was Joel's son. Asaph was Berekiah's son. And Ethan, from the Merari family group, was Kushaiah's son.
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So the L'vi'im appointed Heman the son of Yo'el; of his kinsmen, Asaf the son of Berekhyahu; of the descendants of M'rari their kinsmen, Eitan the son of Kushayahu;
18 There was also a second group of Levites: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel. They were the Levite guards.
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and with them their second-degree kinsmen Z'kharyahu, Ben, Ya'azi'el, Sh'miramot, Yechi'el, 'Uni, Eli'av, B'nayahu, Ma'aseiyahu, Mattityahu, Elif'lehu, Mikneyahu, with 'Oved-Edom and Ye'i'el the gatekeepers.
19 The singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan played bronze cymbals.
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The singers Heman, Asaf and Eitan were appointed to sound the bronze cymbals.
20 Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah played the lyres.
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Z'kharyahu, 'Azi'el, Sh'miramot, Yechi'el, 'Uni, Eli'av, Ma'aseiyahu and B'nayahu were to play the lutes for 'alamot [high-pitched music?].
21 Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah played the harps.
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Mattityahu, Elif'lehu, Mikneyahu, 'Oved-Edom, Ye'i'el and 'Azazyahu were to play lyres to lead the sh'minit [low-pitched music?].
22 The Levite leader Kenaniah was in charge of the singing, because he was very good at it.
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K'nanyahu, chief of the L'vi'im, was in charge of the singing; he was put in charge of the singing because he was skillful at it.
23 Berekiah and Elkanah were two of the guards for the Ark of the Agreement.
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Berekhyahu and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.
24 The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer had the job of blowing trumpets in front of the Ark of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also guards for the Ark.
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Sh'vanyahu, Yoshafat, N'tan'el, 'Amasai, Z'kharyahu, B'nayahu and Eli'ezer the cohanim blew the trumpets in front of the ark of God. 'Oved-Edom and Yechiyah were gatekeepers for the ark.
25 David, the leaders of Israel, and the commanders of a thousand soldiers went to get the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord. They all went to bring the Ark from Obed-Edom's house with great joy.
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So David, the leaders of Isra'el and the commanders over thousands went to bring up the ark for the covenant of ADONAI out from the house of 'Oved-Edom with joy.
26 Because God helped the Levites who carried the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven male sheep.
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Since God was helping the L'vi'im who were carrying the ark for the covenant of ADONAI, they sacrificed seven young bulls and seven rams.
27 All the Levites who carried the Ark, and Kenaniah, the man in charge of the singing, and all the singers wore robes of fine linen. David also wore a robe of fine linen and a holy vest of fine linen.
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David, all the L'vi'im bearing the ark, the singers and K'nanyah the music leader for the singers were all wearing linen cloaks; and David was also wearing a linen ritual vest.
28 So all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord. They shouted, blew horns and trumpets, and played cymbals, lyres, and harps.
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So all Isra'el brought up the ark for the covenant of ADONAI with shouting; blowing on shofars and trumpets; and cymbals sounding with lutes and lyres.
29 As the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord entered Jerusalem, Saul's daughter Michal watched from a window. When she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she hated him.
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As the ark for the covenant of ADONAI entered the City of David, Mikhal the daughter of Sha'ul, watching from the window, saw King David dancing and celebrating; and she was filled with contempt for him.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.