2 Samuel

¹ David again assembled the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand in all. ² And he and all his troops set out for Baale of Judah ^[a] to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name— ^[b] the name of the LORD of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

³ They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart, ⁴ bringing with it the ark of God. ^[c] And Ahio was walking in front of the ark.

⁵ David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, ^[d] harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, ^[e] Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled. ⁷ And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, ^[f] and he died there beside the ark of God.

⁸ Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah; so he named that place Perez-uzzah, ^[g] as it is called to this day.

⁹ That day David feared the LORD and asked, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” ¹⁰ So he was unwilling to move the ark of the LORD to the City of David; instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹ Thus the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and all his household.

¹² Now it was reported to King David, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.”

So David went and had the ark of God brought up from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing. ¹³ When those carrying the ark of the LORD had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

¹⁴ And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD, ¹⁵ while he and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sounding of the ram’s horn.

¹⁶ As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷ So they brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

¹⁸ When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of Hosts. ¹⁹ Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, ^[h] and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each for his own home.

²⁰ As soon as David returned home to bless his own household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today!” she said. “He has uncovered himself today in the sight of the maidservants of his subjects, like a vulgar person would do.”

²¹ But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the LORD, ²² and I will humiliate and humble myself even more than this. Yet I will be honored by the maidservants of whom you have spoken.”

²³ And Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.