1 Chronicles 15:1–14

¹SO they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.

⁵Until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.

³And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto his place, which he had prepared for it.

¹NOW it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord remaineth under curtains.

²Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee.

³¶ And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

⁴Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in:

⁵For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

⁴⁶Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

⁷Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother Amnon’s house, and dress him meat.

⁸So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he was laid down. And she took flour, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes.

²⁴And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king’s face.

⁹So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.

⁸¶ At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.

⁹¶ And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.

¹AND the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

²And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.

³And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.

⁴And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.

⁵And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.

⁶And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁷Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

⁸¶ And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.

¹⁷¶ For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

¹⁹¶ And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying,

²⁰Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;

²¹Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

²²As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

³And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.

¹⁹But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:

²⁰But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

²Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,

³From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁴This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:

⁵¶ And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:

⁶And shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

⁷And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:

⁸And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put in the staves thereof.

⁹And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it:

¹⁰And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put it upon a bar.

¹¹And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:

¹²And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put them on a bar:

¹³And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:

¹⁴And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers’ skins, and put to the staves of it.

¹⁵And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

¹³And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord.

¹⁴Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.

²⁴This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:

²⁵And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:

²⁶But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

⁶¶ And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.

³And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel,

²¹And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord.

⁹But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.

⁵So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath-jearim.

¹THEN Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.

¹AND David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.

¹²¶ And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness.

¹⁷¶ And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

¹²And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.

¹⁶¶ The sons of Levi; Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁷And these be the names of the sons of Gershom; Libni, and Shimei.

¹⁸And the sons of Kohath were, Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.

¹⁹The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers.

²⁰Of Gershom; Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son,

²¹Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeaterai his son.

²²The sons of Kohath; Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,

²³Elkanah his son, and Ebiasaph his son, and Assir his son,

²⁴Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son.

²⁵And the sons of Elkanah; Amasai, and Ahimoth.

²⁶As for Elkanah: the sons of Elkanah; Zophai his son, and Nahath his son,

²⁷Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son.

²⁸And the sons of Samuel; the firstborn Vashni, and Abiah.

²⁹The sons of Merari; Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzza his son,

³⁰Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.

⁴⁹¶ But Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of the burnt offering, and on the altar of incense, and were appointed for all the work of the place most holy, and to make an atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

⁵⁰And these are the sons of Aaron; Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son,

²⁶Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred.

²⁷And Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites, and with him were three thousand and seven hundred;

²⁸And Zadok, a young man mighty of valour, and of his father’s house twenty and two captains.

¹⁶¶ And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.

¹⁷The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.

¹⁸And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

¹⁹And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.

²¹¶ And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.

²²And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.

⁴And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father.

²²The sons of Kohath; Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,

²³Elkanah his son, and Ebiasaph his son, and Assir his son,

²⁴Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son.

²⁹The sons of Merari; Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzza his son,

³⁰Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.

¹¹And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,

⁸The sons of Laadan; the chief was Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.

²²And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.

¹⁸And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

¹²¶ The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

¹⁹Of the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

²³Of the Amramites, and the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites:

³⁰And of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of valour, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers among them of Israel on this side Jordan westward in all the business of the Lord, and in the service of the king.

³¹Among the Hebronites was Jerijah the chief, even among the Hebronites, according to the generations of his fathers. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought for, and there were found among them mighty men of valour at Jazer of Gilead.

²And the sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.

⁵⁸These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korathites. And Kohath begat Amram.

¹²¶ The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

¹⁸And the sons of Kohath were, Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.

²²The sons of Kohath; Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,

¹⁸And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

²²And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.

²⁸And Zadok, a young man mighty of valour, and of his father’s house twenty and two captains.

³⁵¶ And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.

²⁰¶ And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.

²¹And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the Lord’s priests.

²²And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house.

²³Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.

¹⁶And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Shavsha was scribe;

²⁶¶ And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.

²⁴¶ And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city.

²⁵And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation:

²⁶But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.

²⁷The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art not thou a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

²⁸See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me.

²⁹Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tarried there.

³⁵And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

²⁵And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

¹⁷And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;

⁶So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

¹⁴So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.

¹⁴¶ And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.

¹⁵And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.

¹I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

²And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

¹⁵Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord.

¹AND David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.

³And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto his place, which he had prepared for it.

³¹These likewise cast lots over against their brethren the sons of Aaron in the presence of David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the chief of the fathers of the priests and Levites, even the principal fathers over against their younger brethren.

³⁴These chief fathers of the Levites were chief throughout their generations; these dwelt at Jerusalem.

⁴And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,

⁵And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

¹¹¶ And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course:

¹¹It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

¹⁷Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

⁹And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

¹⁰And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

³And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.

⁴⁰Let all things be done decently and in order.

²Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

⁷And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.

⁸And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.

⁹¶ And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.

¹⁰And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.

¹¹And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzza: wherefore that place is called Perez-uzza to this day.

²Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.

⁷And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

⁸And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perez-uzzah to this day.

⁹¶ And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.

¹⁵And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁹But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.

¹³He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

¹⁷For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord.

¹⁸For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one

¹⁹That prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

²⁰And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.

¹⁵And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.

³⁴But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

¹⁶Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

¹⁷Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

³Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.