² Then 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 for ever.’^(A)

¹² He said to them, ‘You are the heads of the Levite families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves^(A) so that you may bring the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it.^{(B) 13} For the Lord our God burst out in anger against us because you Levites were not with us the first time, for we didn’t enquire of him about the proper procedures.’^{(C) 14} So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁵ Then the Levites carried the ark of God the way Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord: on their shoulders with the poles.^(D)