13. The last time we did not ask the Lord how to carry it. You Levites didn’t carry it. So the Lord our God punished us.”
14. Then the priests and Levites prepared themselves for service to the Lord. They did this so they could carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, the God of Israel.
15. The Levites used special poles to carry the Ark of the Covenant of God on their shoulders. This was the way Moses had commanded. They carried it just as the Lord had said they should.
16. David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers. The singers were to play their lyres, harps and cymbals. And they were to sing happy songs.
17. So the Levites appointed Heman and his relatives Asaph and Ethan. Heman was Joel’s son. Asaph was Berekiah’s son. And Ethan, from the Merari family group, was Kushaiah’s son.
18. There was also a second group of Levites. They were Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were the Levite guards.
19. The singers Heman, Asaph and Ethan played bronze cymbals.
20. Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah played the high-pitched lyres.
21. Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah played the low-pitched harps.
22. The Levite leader Kenaniah was in charge of the singing. He had this job because he was very good at singing.
23. Berekiah and Elkanah were two of the guards for the Ark of the Covenant.
24. The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer had the job of blowing trumpets. They did this in front of the Ark of the Covenant. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also guards for the Ark of the Covenant.
25. David, the leaders of Israel, and the commanders went to get the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. Each of the commanders was over a group of 1,000 soldiers. They all went to bring the Ark of the Covenant from Obed-Edom’s house. And they were very happy.