The prince Jehoiada, of the house of Aaron, and with him 3,700.
Of the Benjaminites, the kinsmen of Saul, 3,000, of whom the majority had to that point kept their allegiance to the house of Saul.
Of the Ephraimites 20,800, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers' houses.
Of the half-tribe of Manasseh 18,000, who were expressly named to come and make David king.
Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.
Of Zebulun 50,000 seasoned troops, equipped for battle with all the weapons of war, to help David with singleness of purpose.
Of the Danites 28,600 men equipped for battle.
Of the Reubenites and Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh from beyond the Jordan, 120,000 men armed with all the weapons of war.
All these, men of war, arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with a whole heart to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king.
David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader.
And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us.
Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.”
All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
So David assembled all Israel from the Nile of Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.
And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord who sits enthroned above the cherubim.
And they carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio were driving the cart.
And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled.
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God.
And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day.
And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?”
So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had.
And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went out against them.
Now the Philistines had come and made a raid in the Valley of Rephaim.
And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up, and I will give them into your hand.”
And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.
And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley.
And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees.
And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”
And David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.
And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.
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.
Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever.
And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it.
And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites:
of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers;
of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his brothers;
of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his brothers;
of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his brothers;
of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his brothers;
of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his brothers.
Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab,
and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.
Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.”
So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.
And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.
David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.
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;
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