2 Samuel 6

The ark is brought to Jerusalem

¹David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. ²Then David and all the people with him set out from Baale-judah to bring the ark of God up from there, the ark which is called by the name, the name of the LORD of Armies, who sits enthroned on the cherubim above it.^{ab 3}They placed the ark of God on a new cart and took it away from Abinadab’s house on the hill, while Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. ⁴So they brought the cart out of the house of Abinadab on the hill with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of the ark.^{c 5}David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with every kind of instrument made of cypress wood, with lyres, harps, tambourines, rattles and cymbals.^{d 6}When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand and took hold of the ark of God, for the oxen had stumbled. ⁷Then the anger of the LORD blazed against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his error. He died there beside the ark of God.^{e 8}David was angry because the LORD had burst out against Uzzah, and he named that place Perez-uzzah, a name it still has to this day. ⁹David was afraid of the LORD that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” ¹⁰So David was not willing to take the ark of the LORD into the city of David to be with him. Instead he turned aside and took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.^{f 11}The ark of the LORD stayed three months at the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite, and the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and his whole household. ¹²King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought the ark of God up from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with rejoicing. ¹³When those carrying the ark of the LORD had gone six steps, David sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. ¹⁴David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, and he was wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁵So David and the whole house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with loud shouts of joy and the sound of the ram’s horn. ¹⁶As the ark of the LORD was coming into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked down from the window. She saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and in her heart she despised him. ¹⁷They carried the ark of the LORD in and set it in its place within the tent David had pitched for it. David then offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. ¹⁸When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing on the people in the name of the LORD of Armies. ¹⁹He also handed out food to all the people, the whole crowd of Israel, both men and women: a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins for each one. Then all the people went home, each to their own house.^{g 20}When David returned home to bless his household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. She said, “How the king of Israel has honored himself today! He has uncovered himself today before the eyes of his officials’ servant girls, as shamelessly as some worthless fellow would!” ²¹David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD that I danced, before the one who chose me over your father and over all his family and appointed me ruler over Israel, the people of the LORD. I will celebrate before the LORD.^{h 22}I will make myself even more undignified than this, and I will be humble in my own eyes. But by the servant girls you spoke of, by them I will be held in honor.”^{i 23}And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child until the day she died.