2 Samuel 6
6
David Brings the Sacred Chest Back to Jerusalem
(1 Chronicles 13.1-14; 15.1—16.3,43)
1David brought together 30,000 of Israel's best soldiers and 2#Ex 25.22. led them to Baalah in Judah, which was also called Kiriath-Jearim. They were going there#6.2 to Baalah … there: The Dead Sea Scrolls and 1 Chronicles 13.6; the Standard Hebrew Text “from Baalah in Judah. They had gone there.” to get the sacred chest and bring it back to Jerusalem. The throne of the Lord All-Powerful is above the winged creatures#6.2 winged creatures: Two golden statues of winged creatures were on top of the sacred chest and were symbols of the Lord's throne on earth (see Exodus 25.18). on top of this chest, and he is worshiped there.#6.2 he is worshiped there: Or “the chest belongs to him.”
3 #
1 S 7.1,2. They put the sacred chest on a new ox cart and started bringing it down the hill from Abinadab's house. Abinadab's sons Uzzah and Ahio were guiding the ox cart, 4with Ahio#6.3,4 Ahio … Ahio: Or “his brother … his brother.” walking in front of it. 5Some of the people of Israel were playing music on small harps and other stringed instruments, and on tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. David and the others were happy, and they danced for the Lord with all their might.
6But when they came to Nacon's threshing-floor, the oxen stumbled, so Uzzah reached out and took hold of the sacred chest. 7The Lord God was very angry with Uzzah for doing this, and he killed Uzzah right there beside the chest.
8David got angry with God for killing Uzzah. He named that place “Bursting Out Against Uzzah,”#6.8 Bursting … Uzzah: Or “Perez-Uzzah.” and that's what it's still called.
9David was afraid of the Lord and thought, “Should I really take the sacred chest to my city?” 10He decided not to take it there. Instead, he turned off the road and took it to the home of Obed Edom, who was from Gath.#6.10 Gath: Or perhaps, “Gittaim.”
11-12 #
1 Ch 26.4,5. The chest stayed there for three months, and the Lord greatly blessed Obed Edom, his family, and everything he owned. Then someone told King David, “The Lord has done this because the sacred chest is in Obed Edom's house.”
At once, David went to Obed Edom's house to get the chest and bring it to David's City. Everyone was celebrating. 13The people carrying the chest walked six steps, then David sacrificed an ox and a choice cow. 14He was dancing for the Lord with all his might, but he wore only a linen cloth.#6.14 only a linen cloth: The Hebrew word is “ephod,” which can mean either a piece of clothing like a skirt that went from the waist to the knee or a garment like a vest or a jacket that only the priests wore. 15He and everyone else were celebrating by shouting and blowing horns while the chest was being carried along.
16Saul's daughter Michal looked out her window and watched the chest being brought into David's City. But when she saw David jumping and dancing for the Lord, she was disgusted.
17They put the chest inside a tent that David had set up for it. David worshiped the Lord by sacrificing animals and burning them on an altar,#6.17 sacrificing … altar: The Hebrew mentions two kinds of sacrifices. In one kind of sacrifice, the whole animal was burned on the altar. In the other kind, only part was burned, and the worshipers ate the rest, as in verse 19 (see Leviticus 1.2-17; 3.1-17). 18then he blessed the people in the name of the Lord All-Powerful. 19#1 Ch 16.43. He gave all the men and women in the crowd a small loaf of bread, some meat, and a handful of raisins, then everyone went home.
Michal Talks to David
20David went home so he could ask the Lord to bless his family. But Saul's daughter Michal went out and started yelling at him. “You were really great today!” she said. “You acted like a dirty old man, dancing around half-naked in front of your servants' slave-girls.”
21David told her, “The Lord didn't choose your father or anyone else in your family to be the leader of his people. The Lord chose me, and I was celebrating in honor of him. 22I'll show you just how great I can be! I'll even be disgusting to myself. But those slave-girls you talked about will still honor me!”
23Michal never had any children.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
2 Samuel 6
6
David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem
(1 Chronicles 13:5–14; 15:25–16:3, 43)
1David again assembled all the best soldiers in Israel, 30,000 men. 2He and all the people with him left Baalah in Judah #6:2 Or “Baal in Judah” or “the citizens of Judah”; Dead Sea Scrolls and 1 Chronicles 13:6 “Baalah in Kiriath Jearim.” to bring God’s ark ⌞to Jerusalem⌟. (The ark is called by the name of the Lord of Armies, who is enthroned over the angels.#6:2 Or “cherubim.”) 3David and his men put God’s ark on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s home on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were guiding the new cart. 4They brought it from Abinadab’s home, with Ahio walking ahead of the ark. 5David and the entire nation of Israel were celebrating in the Lord’s presence with all kinds of instruments made from cypress wood #6:5 Or “with all their might.” See 1 Chronicles 13:8. and with lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums,#6:5 A type of rattle used as a musical instrument. and cymbals.
6But when they came to Nacon’s threshing floor,#6:6 A threshing floor is an outdoor area where grain is separated from its husks. the oxen stumbled. So Uzzah reached out for the ark of God and grabbed it. 7The Lord became angry with Uzzah, so God killed him there for his lack of respect. He died beside the ark of God.
8David was angry because the Lord had struck Uzzah so violently. (That place is still called Perez Uzzah [The Striking of Uzzah] today.) 9David was afraid of the Lord that day. “How can the ark of the Lord come to my ⌞city⌟?” he asked. 10So David wouldn’t bring the ark of the Lord with him to the City of David. Instead, he rerouted it to the home of Obed Edom, who was from Gath. 11The ark of the Lord stayed at the home of Obed Edom from Gath for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and his whole family.
12King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed Edom’s home and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” Then David joyfully went to get the ark of God from Obed Edom’s house and bring it to the City of David. 13When those who carried the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.
14Wearing a linen ephod,#6:14 Ephod is a technical term for a part of the priest’s clothes. Its exact usage and shape are unknown. David danced in the Lord’s presence with all his might. 15He and the entire nation of Israel brought the ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the sounding of rams’ horns. 16When the ark of the Lord came to the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out of a window and saw King David leaping and dancing in the Lord’s presence, so she despised him.
17The men carrying the ark set it in its place inside the tent David had put up for it. David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the Lord’s presence. 18When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Armies. 19He also distributed to all the people—to the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women—one loaf of bread, one date cake, and one raisin cake. Then all the people went home.
20When David returned to bless his family, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How dignified Israel’s king was today! He was exposing himself before the eyes of the slave girls of his palace staff—like a mindless fool might expose himself!”
21David answered Michal, “⌞I didn’t dance in front of the slave girls but⌟ in front of the Lord. He chose me rather than your father or anyone in your father’s house, and he appointed me leader of Israel, the Lord’s people. I will celebrate in the Lord’s presence, 22and I will degrade myself even more than this. Even if I am humiliated in your eyes, I will be honored by these slave girls you speak about.”
23So Saul’s daughter Michal was childless her entire life.
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