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The Ark Brought to Jerusalem(A)
15 So David built houses for himself 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, “No one may carry the ark of God except the Levites since the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him always.”
3 David assembled all Israel to Jerusalem in order to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it. 4 And David gathered representatives of the sons of Aaron and the Levites, as follows:
5 from the sons of Kohath,
Uriel the leader and one hundred and twenty of his brothers;
6 from the sons of Merari,
Asaiah the leader and two hundred and twenty of his brothers;
7 from the sons of Gershom,
Joel the leader and one hundred and thirty of his brothers;
8 from the sons of Elizaphan,
Shemaiah the leader and two hundred of his brothers;
9 from the sons of Hebron,
Eliel the leader and eighty of his brothers;
10 from the sons of Uzziel,
Amminadab the leader and one hundred and twelve of his brothers.
11 Then David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests and for the Levites: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, “You are the captains of the fathers’ houses for the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it 13 because on the first attempt without you the Lord struck out against us since we did not seek Him properly.” 14 So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 The sons of the Levites lifted up the ark of God just as Moses commanded, with the poles on their shoulders, according to the word of the Lord.
16 Then David told the leaders of the Levites to position their brothers the singers with musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals to resound with joyful songs.
17 So the Levites placed Heman the son of Joel, and from his brothers, Asaph the son of Berekiah, and from their brothers the sons of Merari, Ethan the son of Kushaiah, 18 and with them their brothers of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.
19 So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were directed to sound cymbals of brass. 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to accompany with harps on Alamoth. 21 Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres on the Sheminith. 22 Kenaniah, leader of the Levites, was to conduct the music because he was skillful.
23 Berekiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were assigned to sound trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were gatekeepers for the ark.
25 So David, the elders of Israel, and the leaders of the thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with rejoicing. 26 Since God helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 Now David was clothed in a fine linen robe, as were the Levites who carried the ark, the singers, and Kenaniah, the conductor of singing and singers. David himself wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with a shout and with the sound of the ram’s horn and with trumpets and cymbals, making music on harps and lyres.
29 Now as the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal the daughter of Saul was looking down from the window, and when she saw King David dancing and spinning, she despised him in her heart.
The Ark Set in the Tent
16 So they brought in the ark of God, placed it in the midst of the tent that David had erected for it, and drew near to God with burnt offerings and peace offerings. 2 When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3 Then he distributed to all the children of Israel, both men and women, a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a raisin cake for each.
4 And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: 5 Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with the cymbals. 6 Moreover, Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests sounded trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.
David’s Psalm of Thanksgiving(B)
7 On that day then, David delivered for the first time this psalm of thanksgiving to the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brothers:
8 Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name;
make known His deeds among the peoples.
9 Sing to Him, sing praise to Him,
recount all His wonders.
10 Glory in His holy name;
let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
11 Seek the Lord and His strength;
seek His face continually.
12 Remember His wonders which He has done,
His wonders and the judgments of His mouth,
13 O seed of Israel, His servant,
O sons of Jacob, His chosen.
14 He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
15 Remember His covenant forever,
the word He commanded for a thousand generations,
16 that He made with Abraham,
even His oath to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
18 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
19 When you were few in number,
few indeed, and strangers there,
20 when they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another,
21 He allowed no man to oppress them;
He rebuked kings on their account,
22 saying, “Do not touch My anointed,
and do My prophets no harm.”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
24 Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all the peoples.
25 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.
He is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
27 Honor and majesty are before Him;
strength and joy are in His place.
28 Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
give to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
bring an offering and come before Him,
bow down to the Lord in holy array.
30 Tremble before Him, all the earth.
The world also is firmly established; it shall not be moved.
31 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad.
Let them say among the nations, “The Lord is King.”
32 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness.
Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.
33 Then the trees of the forest will ring out before the Lord,
for He is coming to judge the earth.
34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for His mercy endures forever.
35 Now say, “Save us, O God of our salvation,
and gather us and deliver us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to Your holy name,
to glory in Your praise.
36 Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.”
Then all the people said, “Amen,” and “Praise the Lord.”
The Guilt of Mankind
18 The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth through unrighteousness. 19 For what may be known about God is clear to them since God has shown it to them. 20 The invisible things about Him—His eternal power and deity—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world and are understood by the things that are made, so that they are without excuse.
21 Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him or give thanks to Him as God, but became futile in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools. 23 They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their own bodies among themselves. 25 They turned the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged the natural function for what is against nature. 27 Likewise the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men with men doing that which is shameful, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not proper. 29 They were filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, proud, boastful, inventors of evil things, and disobedient toward parents, 31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, calloused, and unmerciful, 32 who know the righteous requirement of God, that those who commit such things are worthy of death. They not only do them, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Psalm 10
1 Why do You stand far off, O Lord?
Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked persecutes the poor;
let them be caught in the devices they have planned.
3 For the wicked boasts of his soul’s desire;
he blesses the greedy and despises the Lord.
4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek God;
God is not in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
Your judgments are high and distant from him;
as for all his enemies, they scoff at him.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
for generations I shall not meet adversity.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
in the secret places he murders the innocent;
his eyes lurk against the unfortunate.
9 He lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den;
he lies in wait to catch the poor;
he catches the poor, drawing them into his net.
10 He crouches; he lies low,
so that the unfortunate fall by his strength.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten;
He hides His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand!
Do not forget the humble.
13 Why do the wicked despise God?
He says in his heart,
“You will require an account.”
14 You have seen it, for You observe trouble and grief,
to repay it with Your hand.
The unfortunate one entrusts it to You;
You are the helper of the orphan.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man;
seek out his wickedness
until You find none.
6 Many will entreat the favor of the prince,
and every man is a friend to him who gives gifts.
7 All the brothers of the poor hate him;
how much more do his friends go far from him!
He pursues them with words,
yet they abandon him.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.