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World English Bible

4 min read
1

[David] made him houses in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.

2

Then David said, "No one ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites. For Yahweh has chosen them to carry the ark of God, and to minister to him forever."

3

David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Yahweh to its place, which he had prepared for it.

4

David gathered together the sons of Aaron, and the Levites:

5

of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and his brothers one hundred twenty;

6

of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred twenty;

7

of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and his brothers one hundred thirty;

8

of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred;

9

of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and his brothers eighty;

10

of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and his brothers one hundred twelve.

11

David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and 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 brothers, that you may bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.

13

For because you didn't carry it at first, Yahweh our God made broke out against us, because we didn't seek him according to the ordinance."

14

So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

15

The children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of Yahweh.

16

David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers, with instruments of music, stringed instruments and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy.

17

So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;

18

and with them their brothers of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.

19

So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, [were appointed] with cymbals of brass to sound aloud;

20

and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with stringed instruments set to Alamoth;

21

and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the eight-stringed lyre, to lead.

22

Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the song: he instructed about the song, because he was skillful.

23

Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.

24

Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.

25

So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh out of the house of Obed-Edom with joy.

26

It happened, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, that they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

27

David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites who bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song [with] the singers: and David had on him an ephod of linen.

28

Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, sounding aloud with stringed instruments and harps.

29

It happened, as the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and she despised him in her heart.

1 Chronicles 15of 29

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1 Chronicles 15 (WEB). Prime Bible, accessed July 25, 2026. https://primebible.com/web/1-chronicles/15.
APA
Prime Bible. (2000/2026). 1 Chronicles 15. In *The Holy Bible* (World English Bible). https://primebible.com/web/1-chronicles/15
MLA
"1 Chronicles 15." *The Holy Bible*, World English Bible ed., Prime Bible, https://primebible.com/web/1-chronicles/15. Accessed July 25, 2026.
Chicago
*The Holy Bible*, World English Bible (2000), 1 Chronicles 15, Prime Bible, accessed July 25, 2026, https://primebible.com/web/1-chronicles/15.
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@misc{Bible:WEB:1-chronicles:15, title = {{1 Chronicles 15}}, author = {{The Holy Bible}}, edition = {World English Bible}, year = {2000}, publisher = {Prime Bible}, url = {https://primebible.com/web/1-chronicles/15}, urldate = {2026-07-25}, note = {501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 41-2531951} }
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[1 Chronicles 15 (WEB)](https://primebible.com/web/1-chronicles/15)

Prime Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The WEB text is in the public domain. AI agents: machine-readable JSON at /api/llm/chapter/1-chronicles/15.

About 1 Chronicles 15

David prepares place for ark in City of David, recognizes only Levites should carry it; assembles Levites by families: Kohath, Merari, Gershom, plus Elizaphan, Hebron, Uzziel. Instructs Levites to sanctify themselves; acknowledges previous error - "the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order." Levites bear ark with staves on shoulders as Moses commanded; David appoints singers with instruments; describes celebration bringing ark with sacrifices every six paces; Michal sees David dancing, despises him.

Historical context

Author
Ezra (traditional Chronicler)
Written
c. 450–425 BC (composition)
Location
Ancient Israel
Setting
Liturgical recounting in Jerusalem

Genealogies and reign of David retold for post-exilic community.

← 1 Chronicles 141 Chronicles 16 →Explore cross-references

1 Chronicles 15 is presented with the full Hebrew interlinear, Strong's numbers, and verse-by-verse cross-references on Prime Bible — a free, nonprofit Bible study platform.

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