The Ark of the Covenant Placed in Its Tent

¹ And they brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God.

² And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh.

³ And he distributed to every man of Israel, both men and women, to each person a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins.

⁴ Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of Yahweh, to invoke, thank, and praise Yahweh the God of Israel.

⁵ Asaph was chief, and his second was Zechariah; Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel were on harps and lyres. And Asaph played on the cymbals.

⁶ And Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew on the trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

David’s Song of Thanks

⁷ Then on that day David first appointed to give thanks to Yahweh by the hand of Asaph and his brothers.

⁸ Give thanks to Yahweh; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the nations!

⁹ Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of his wondrous works!

¹⁰ Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those seeking Yahweh rejoice!

¹¹ Seek Yahweh and his strength; seek his face continually!

¹² Remember his wonderful works that he has done, his wonders and the judgments of his mouth,

¹³ O offspring of Israel, his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!

¹⁴ He is Yahweh 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⌟¹ with Abraham, his sworn oath to Isaac.

1. Literally “cut”

¹⁷ And he confirmed it to Jacob as a statute, an everlasting covenant to Israel,

¹⁸ saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance.”

¹⁹ When you were few in number, little, and sojourners were in it,

²⁰ when they wandered from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people,

²¹ he did not allow anyone to oppress them, and he rebuked kings on their account,

²² saying, “You must not touch my anointed nor do harm to my prophets!”

²³ Sing to Yahweh, all the earth! Proclaim his salvation from day to day!

²⁴ Proclaim his glory among the nations, his wondrous works among the peoples!

²⁵ For Yahweh is great and greatly praised, and he is feared among all gods.

²⁶ For all the gods of the nations are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens.

²⁷ Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.

²⁸ Ascribe to Yahweh, O clans of the nations, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength!

²⁹ Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of his name! Lift up an offering and come before him! Bow down to Yahweh in the splendor of holiness!

³⁰ Tremble before him, all the earth; surely the world shall not be shaken.

³¹ Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, and let them tell the peoples, “Yahweh reigns!”

³² Let the sea roar and its fullness; let the field rejoice and all that is in it.

³³ Then the trees of the forest shall sing for joy before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth.

³⁴ Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good; his loyal love is everlasting.

³⁵ Then say, “Save us, O God of our salvation; gather us and rescue us from the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

³⁶ Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!” Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised Yahweh.

Worship and the Ark

³⁷ So he¹ left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to minister before the ark regularly ⌞as each day required⌟,²

1. That is, David
2. Literally “according to the word of a day with respect to its day”

³⁸ and he left Obed-Edom with his sixty-eight brothers. And Obed-Edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were gatekeepers.

³⁹ And he left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of Yahweh at the high place which was at Gibeon

⁴⁰ to offer burnt offerings regularly to Yahweh on the altar of burnt offering, morning and evening, according to all that was written in the law of Yahweh that he commanded concerning Israel.

⁴¹ And with them were Heman and Jeduthun and the remainder of those chosen, who were designated by name to give thanks to Yahweh, for his loyal love is everlasting.

⁴² And Heman and Jeduthun with them had trumpets and cymbals for making music, along with instruments for the song of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were at the gate.

⁴³ Then all the people went each to his house, and David turned to bless his household.