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Then David said, "No one may carry the ark of God but the Levites, for the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever."
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And David gathered all Israel together at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it.
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Then David assembled the children of Aaron and the Levites:
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of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and one hundred and twenty of his brethren;
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of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and two hundred and twenty of his brethren;
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of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and one hundred and thirty of his brethren;
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of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his brethren;
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of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and eighty of his brethren;
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of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and one hundred and twelve of his brethren.
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And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.
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He said to them, "You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it.
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For because you did not do it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order."
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So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.
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And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.
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Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy.
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So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren, the sons of Merari, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;
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and with them their brethren of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers;
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the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound the cymbals of bronze;
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Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to Alamoth;
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Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the Sheminith;
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Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was instructor in charge of the music, because he was skillful;