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15 David now built several palaces for himself in Jerusalem, and he also built a new Tabernacle to house the Ark of God, 2 and issued these instructions: “When we transfer the Ark to its new home,[a] no one except the Levites may carry it, for God has chosen them for this purpose; they are to minister to him forever.”
3 Then David summoned all Israel to Jerusalem to celebrate the bringing of the Ark into the new Tabernacle. 4-10 These were the priests and Levites present:
120 from the clan of Kohath; with Uriel as their leader;
220 from the clan of Merari; with Asaiah as their leader;
130 from the clan of Gershom; with Joel as their leader;
200 from the subclan of Elizaphan; with Shemaiah as their leader;
80 from the subclan of Hebron; with Eliel as their leader;
112 from the subclan of Uzziel; with Amminadab as their leader.
11 Then David called for Zadok and Abiathar, the High Priests, and for the Levite leaders: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.
12 “You are the leaders of the clans of the Levites,” he told them. “Now sanctify yourselves with all your brothers so that you may bring the Ark of Jehovah, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. 13 The Lord destroyed us before because we handled the matter improperly—you were not carrying it.”
14 So the priests and the Levites underwent the ceremonies of sanctification in preparation for bringing home the Ark of Jehovah, the God of Israel. 15 Then the Levites carried the Ark on their shoulders with its carrying poles, just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
16 King David also ordered the Levite leaders to organize the singers into an orchestra, and they played loudly and joyously upon psaltries, harps, and cymbals. 17 Heman (son of Joel), Asaph (son of Berechiah), and Ethan (son of Kushaiah) from the clan of Merari were the heads of the musicians.
18 The following men were chosen as their assistants: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.
19 Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were chosen to sound the bronze cymbals; 20 and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah comprised an octet accompanied by harps.[b] 21 Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were the harpists.[c] 22 The song leader was Chenaniah, the chief of the Levites, who was selected for his skill. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were guards for the Ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer—all of whom were priests—formed a bugle corps to march at the head of the procession. And Obed-edom and Jehiah guarded the Ark.
25 Then David and the elders of Israel and the high officers of the army went with great joy to the home of Obed-edom to take the Ark to Jerusalem. 26 And because God didn’t destroy the Levites who were carrying the Ark, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven lambs. 27 David, the Levites carrying the Ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the song leader were all dressed in linen robes. David also wore a linen ephod. 28 So the leaders of Israel took the Ark to Jerusalem with shouts of joy, the blowing of horns and trumpets, the crashing of cymbals, and loud playing on the harps and zithers.
29 (But as the Ark arrived in Jerusalem, David’s wife Michal, the daughter of King Saul, felt a deep disgust for David as she watched from the window and saw him dancing like a madman.)
16 So they brought the Ark of God into the special tent that David had prepared for it, and the leaders of Israel sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 At the conclusion of these offerings David blessed the people in the name of the Lord; 3 then he gave every person present[d] (men and women alike) a loaf of bread, some wine, and a cake of raisins.
4 He appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the Ark by giving constant praise and thanks to the Lord God of Israel and by asking for his blessings upon his people. These are the names of those given this assignment: 5 Asaph, the leader of this detail, sounded the cymbals. His associates were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel; they played the harps and zithers. 6 The priests Benaiah and Jahaziel played their trumpets regularly before the Ark.
7 At that time David began the custom of using choirs in the Tabernacle to sing thanksgiving to the Lord. Asaph was the director of this choral group of priests.
8 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord and pray to him,” they sang.
“Tell the peoples of the world
About his mighty doings.
9 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises
And tell of his marvelous works.
10 Glory in his holy name;
Let all rejoice who seek the Lord.
11 Seek the Lord; yes, seek his strength
And seek his face untiringly.
12-13 O descendants of his servant Abraham,
O chosen sons of Jacob,
Remember his mighty miracles
And his marvelous miracles
And his authority:
14 He is the Lord our God!
His authority is seen throughout the earth.
15 Remember his covenant forever—
The words he commanded
To a thousand generations:
16 His agreement with Abraham,
And his oath to Isaac,
17 And his confirmation to Jacob.
He promised Israel
With an everlasting promise:
18 ‘I will give you the land of Canaan
As your inheritance.’
19 When Israel was few in number—oh, so few—
And merely strangers in the Promised Land;
20 When they wandered from country to country,
From one kingdom to another—
21 God didn’t let anyone harm them.
Even kings were killed who sought to hurt them.
22 ‘Don’t harm my chosen people,’ he declared.
‘These are my prophets—touch them not.’
23 Sing to the Lord, O Earth,
Declare each day that he is the one who saves!
24 Show his glory to the nations!
Tell everyone about his miracles.
25 For the Lord is great and should be highly praised;
He is to be held in awe above all gods.
26 The other so-called gods are demons,
But the Lord made the heavens.
27 Majesty and honor march before him,
Strength and gladness walk beside him.
28 O people of all nations of the earth,
Ascribe great strength and glory to his name!
29 Yes, ascribe to the Lord
The glory due his name!
Bring an offering and come before him;
Worship the Lord when clothed with holiness!
30 Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world stands unmoved.
31 Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice;
Let all the nations say, ‘It is the Lord who reigns.’
32 Let the vast seas roar,
Let the countryside and everything in it rejoice!
33 Let the trees in the woods sing for joy before the Lord,
For he comes to judge the earth.
34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
His love and his kindness go on forever.
35 Cry out to him, ‘Oh, save us, God of our salvation;
Bring us safely back from among the nations.
Then we will thank your holy name,
And triumph in your praise.’
36 Blessed be Jehovah, God of Israel,
Forever and forevermore.”
And all the people shouted “Amen!” and praised the Lord.
18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, evil men who push away the truth from them. 19 For the truth about God is known to them instinctively;[a] God has put this knowledge in their hearts. 20 Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgment Day.[b]
21 Yes, they knew about him all right, but they wouldn’t admit it or worship him or even thank him for all his daily care. And after a while they began to think up silly ideas of what God was like and what he wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead. 23 And then, instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they took wood and stone and made idols for themselves, carving them to look like mere birds and animals and snakes and puny[c] men.
24 So God let them go ahead into every sort of sex sin, and do whatever they wanted to—yes, vile and sinful things with each other’s bodies. 25 Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they prayed to the things God made, but wouldn’t obey the blessed God who made these things.
26 That is why God let go of them and let them do all these evil things, so that even their women turned against God’s natural plan for them and indulged in sex sin with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sex relationships with women, burned with lust for each other, men doing shameful things with other men and, as a result, getting paid within their own souls with the penalty they so richly deserved.
28 So it was that when they gave God up and would not even acknowledge him, God gave them up to doing everything their evil minds could think of. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness and sin, of greed and hate, envy, murder, fighting, lying, bitterness, and gossip.
30 They were backbiters, haters of God, insolent, proud, braggarts, always thinking of new ways of sinning and continually being disobedient to their parents. 31 They tried to misunderstand,[d] broke their promises, and were heartless—without pity. 32 They were fully aware of God’s death penalty for these crimes, yet they went right ahead and did them anyway and encouraged others to do them, too.
10 Lord, why are you standing aloof and far away? Why do you hide when I need you the most?
2 Come and deal with all these proud and wicked men who viciously persecute the poor. Pour upon these men the evil they planned for others! 3 For these men brag of all their evil lusts; they revile God and congratulate those the Lord abhors, whose only goal in life is money.
4 These wicked men, so proud and haughty, seem to think that God is dead.[a] They wouldn’t think of looking for him! 5 Yet there is success in everything they do, and their enemies fall before them. They do not see your punishment awaiting them. 6 They boast that neither God nor man can ever keep them down—somehow they’ll find a way!
7 Their mouths are full of profanity and lies and fraud. They are always boasting of their evil plans. 8 They lurk in dark alleys of the city and murder passersby. 9 Like lions they crouch silently, waiting to pounce upon the poor. Like hunters they catch their victims in their traps. 10 The unfortunate are overwhelmed by their superior strength and fall beneath their blows. 11 “God isn’t watching,” they say to themselves; “he’ll never know!”
12 O Lord, arise! O God, crush them! Don’t forget the poor or anyone else in need. 13 Why do you let the wicked get away with this contempt for God? For they think that God will never call them to account. 14 Lord, you see what they are doing. You have noted each evil act. You know what trouble and grief they have caused. Now punish them. O Lord, the poor man trusts himself to you; you are known as the helper of the helpless. 15 Break the arms of these wicked men. Go after them until the last of them is destroyed.
6 Many beg favors from a man who is generous; everyone is his friend!
7 A poor man’s own brothers turn away from him in embarrassment;[a] how much more his friends! He calls after them, but they are gone.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.