The Daily Audio Bible
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15 David made for himself houses in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.
2 Then David said, None should carry the ark of God but the Levites, for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of God and to minister to Him forever.
3 And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it.
4 And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites:
5 Of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 kinsmen;
6 Of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 kinsmen;
7 Of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 kinsmen;
8 Of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 kinsmen;
9 Of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 kinsmen;
10 Of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 kinsmen.
11 And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites—Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab,
12 And said to them, You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, both you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.
13 For because you bore it not [as God directed] at the first, the Lord our God broke forth upon us—because we did not seek Him in the way He ordained.(A)
14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.
15 The Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses commanded by the word of the Lord.
16 David told the chief Levites to appoint their brethren the singers with instruments of music—harps, lyres, and cymbals—to play loudly and lift up their voices with joy.
17 So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan son of Kushaiah;
18 And with them their brethren of the second class: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and also the gatekeepers, Obed-edom and Jeiel.
19 So the singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound bronze cymbals;
20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps [resembling guitars] set to Alamoth [probably the treble voice];
21 Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres set to Sheminith [the bass voice].
22 Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in singing, was put in charge of carrying the ark and lifting up song. He instructed about these matters because he was skilled and able.
23 Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.
24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. And Obed-edom and Jehiah (Jeiel) were also gatekeepers for the ark.
25 So David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obed-edom with joy.
26 And when God helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord [with a safe start], they offered seven bulls and seven rams.
27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were the Levites who bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah, director of the music of the singers. David also wore an ephod [a priestly upper garment] of linen.
28 Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, sound of the cornet, trumpets, and cymbals, sounding aloud with harps and lyres.
29 As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the City of David, Michal [David’s wife] daughter of Saul, looking from a window, saw King David leaping as in sport, and she despised him in her heart.
16 So they brought the ark of God and set it in the midst of the tent which 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 he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.
4 He appointed Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord and to celebrate [by calling to mind], thanking and praising the Lord, the God of Israel:
5 Asaph was the chief, next to him Zechariah, Jeiel (Jaaziel), Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, and Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals;
6 Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.
7 Then on that day David first entrusted to Asaph and his brethren the singing of thanks to the Lord [as their chief task]:
8 O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known His doings among the peoples!
9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His wondrous works and devoutly praise them!
10 Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
11 Seek the Lord and His strength; yearn for and seek His face and to be in His presence continually!
12 [Earnestly] remember the marvelous deeds which He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He uttered [as in Egypt],
13 O you offspring of [Abraham and] of Israel His servants, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
14 He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth.
15 Be mindful of His covenant forever, the promise which He commanded and established to a thousand generations,
16 The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His sworn promise to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it as a statute to Jacob, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,(B)
18 Saying, To you I will give the land of Canaan, the measured portion of your possession and inheritance.
19 When they were but few, even a very few, and only temporary residents and strangers in it,
20 When they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people,
21 He allowed no man to do them wrong; yes, He reproved kings for their sakes,(C)
22 Saying, Touch not My anointed, and do My prophets no harm.(D)
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; show forth from day to day His salvation.
24 Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all peoples.
25 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He also is to be [reverently] feared above all so-called gods.
26 For all the gods of the people are [lifeless] idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
27 Honor and majesty are [found] in His presence; strength and joy are [found] in His sanctuary.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength,
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering and come before Him; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness and in holy array.
30 Tremble and reverently fear before Him, all the earth’s peoples; the world also shall be established, so it cannot be moved.
31 Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice; and let men say among the nations, The Lord reigns!
32 Let the sea roar, and all the things that fill it; let the fields rejoice, and all that is in them.
33 Then shall the trees of the wood sing out for joy before the Lord, for He comes to judge and govern the earth.
34 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!
35 And say, Save us, O God of our salvation; gather us together and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name and glory in Your praise.
36 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever! And all the people said Amen! and praised the Lord.
18 For God’s [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative.
19 For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it to them.
20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification],(A)
21 Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and [a]godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves].
23 And by them the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God were exchanged for and represented by images, resembling mortal man and birds and beasts and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their [own] hearts to sexual impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin],
25 Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever! Amen (so be it).(B)
26 For this reason God gave them over and abandoned them to vile affections and degrading passions. For their women exchanged their natural function for an unnatural and abnormal one,
27 And the men also turned from natural relations with women and were set ablaze (burning out, consumed) with lust for one another—men committing shameful acts with men and suffering in their own [b]bodies and personalities the inevitable consequences and penalty of their wrong-doing and going astray, which was [their] fitting retribution.
28 And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do things not proper or decent but loathsome,
29 Until they were filled (permeated and saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, iniquity, grasping and covetous greed, and malice. [They were] full of envy and jealousy, murder, strife, deceit and treachery, ill will and cruel ways. [They were] secret backbiters and gossipers,
30 Slanderers, hateful to and hating God, full of insolence, arrogance, [and] boasting; inventors of new forms of evil, disobedient and undutiful to parents.
31 [They were] without understanding, conscienceless and faithless, heartless and loveless [and] merciless.
32 Though they are fully aware of God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them themselves but approve and applaud others who practice them.
Psalm 10
1 Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself, [veiling Your eyes] in times of trouble (distress and desperation)?
2 The wicked in pride and arrogance hotly pursue and persecute the poor; let them be taken in the schemes which they have devised.
3 For the wicked man boasts (sings the praises) of his own heart’s desire, and the one greedy for gain curses and spurns, yes, renounces and despises the Lord.
4 The wicked one in the pride of his countenance will not seek, inquire for, and yearn for God; all his thoughts are that there is no God [so He never punishes].
5 His ways are grievous [or persist] at all times; Your judgments [Lord] are far above and on high out of his sight [so he never thinks about them]; as for all his foes, he sniffs and sneers at them.
6 He thinks in his heart, I shall not be moved; for throughout all generations I shall not come to want or be in adversity.
7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, oppression (fraud); under his tongue are trouble and sin (mischief and iniquity).
8 He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he slays the innocent; he watches stealthily for the poor (the helpless and unfortunate).
9 He lurks in secret places like a lion in his thicket; he lies in wait that he may seize the poor (the helpless and the unfortunate); he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 [The prey] is crushed, sinks down; and the helpless falls by his mighty [claws].
11 [The foe] thinks in his heart, God has quite forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see [my deed].
12 Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand; forget not the humble [patient and crushed].
13 Why does the wicked [man] condemn (spurn and renounce) God? Why has he thought in his heart, You will not call to account?
14 You have seen it; yes, You note trouble and grief (vexation) to requite it with Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man; and as for the evil man, search out his wickedness until You find no more.
6 Many will entreat the favor of a liberal man, and every man is a friend to him who gives gifts.
7 All the brothers of a poor man detest him—how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation