¹ At that time the Lord said to me: Hew thee two tables of stone like the former, and come up to me into the mount: and thou shalt make an ark of mood,

² And I will write on the tables the words that were in them, which thou brokest before, and thou shalt put them in the ark.

³ And I made an ark of setim wood And when I had hewn two tables of stone like the former, I went up into the mount, having them in my hands.

⁴ And he wrote in the tables, according as he had written before, the ten words, which the Lord spoke to you in the mount from the midst of the fire, when the people were assembled: and he gave them to me.

⁵ And returning from the mount, I came down, and put the tables into the ark, that I had made, and they are there till this present, as the Lord commanded me.

⁶ And the children of Israel removed their camp from Beroth of the children of Jacan into Mosera, where Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him in the priestly office.

⁷ From thence they came to Gadgad, from which place they departed, and camped in Jetebatha, in a land of waters and torrents.

⁸ At that time he separated the tribe of Levi, to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to stand before him in the ministry, and to bless in his name until this present day.

⁹ Wherefore Levi hath no part nor possession with his brethren: because the Lord himself is his possession, as the Lord thy God promised him.

¹⁰ And I stood in the mount, as before, forty days and nights: and the Lord heard me this time also, and would not destroy thee.

¹¹ And he said to me: Go, and walk before the people, that they may enter, and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers that I would give them.

¹² And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but that thou fear the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and love him, and serve the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul:

¹³ And keep the commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies, which I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee?

¹⁴ Behold heaven is the Lord's thy God, and the heaven of heaven, the earth and all things that are therein.

¹⁵ And yet the Lord hath been closely joined to thy fathers, and loved them and chose their seed after them, that is to say, you, out of all nations, as this day it is proved.

¹⁶ Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen your neck no more.

¹⁷ Because the Lord your God he is the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, a great God and mighty and terrible, a who accepteth no person nor taketh bribes.

¹⁸ He doth judgment to the fatherless and the widow, loveth the stranger, and giveth him food and raiment.

¹⁹ And do you therefore love strangers, because you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

²⁰ Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him only: to him thou shalt adhere, and shalt swear by his name.

²¹ He is thy praise, and thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thy eyes have seen.

²² In seventy souls thy fathers went down into Egypt: and behold now the Lord thy God hath multiplied thee as the stars of heaven.

¹ He made also houses for himself in the city of David: and built a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tabernacle for it.

² Then David said: No one ought to carry the ark of God, but the Levites, whom the Lord hath chosen to carry it, and to minister unto himself for ever.

³ And he gathered all Israel together into Jerusalem, that the ark of God might be brought into its place, which he had prepared for it.

⁴ And the sons of Aaron also, and the Levites.

⁵ Of the children of Caath, Uriel was the chief, and his brethren a hundred and twenty.

⁶ Of the sons of Merari, Asaia the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty.

⁷ Of the sons of Gersom, Joel the chief, and his brethren a hundred and thirty.

⁸ Of the sons of Elisaphan, Semeias the chief: and his brethren two hundred.

⁹ Of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief: and his brethren eighty.

¹⁰ Of the sons of Oziel, Aminadab the chief: and his brethren a hundred and twelve.

¹¹ And David called Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests, and the Levites, Uriel, Asaia, Joel, Semeia, Eliel, and Aminadab:

¹² And he said to them: You that are the heads of the Levitical families, be sanctified with your brethren, and brine the ark of the Lord the God of Israel to the place, which is prepared for it:

¹³ Lest as the Lord at first struck us, because you were not present, the same should now also come to pass, by our doing some thing against the law.

¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites were sanctified, to carry the ark of the Lord the God of Israel.

¹⁵ And the sons of Levi took the ark of God as Moses had commanded, according to the word of the Lord, upon their shoulders, with the staves.

¹⁶ And David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites, to appoint some of their brethren to be singers with musical instruments, to wit, on psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, that the joyful noise might resound on high.

¹⁷ And they appointed Levites, Hemam the son of Joel, and of his brethren Asaph the son of Barachias: and of the sons of Merari, their brethren: Ethan the son of Casaia.

¹⁸ And with them their brethren: in the second rank, Zacharias, and Ben, and Jaziel, and Semiramoth, and Jahiel, and Ani, and Eliab, and Banaias, and Maasias, and Mathathias, and Eliphalu, and Macenias, and Obededom, and Jehiel, the porters.

¹⁹ Now the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, sounded with cymbals of brass.

²⁰ And Zacharias, and Oziel, and Semiramoth, and Jehiel, and Ani, and Eliab, and Maasias, and Banaias, sung mysteries upon psalteries.

²¹ And Mathathias, and Eliphalu, and Macenias and Obededom, and Jehiel and Ozaziu, sung a song of victory for the octave upon harps.

²² And Chonenias chief of the Levites, presided over the prophecy, to give out the tunes: for he was very skilful.

²³ And Barachias, and Elcana, were doorkeepers of the ark.

²⁴ And Sebenias, and Josaphat, and Nathanael, and Amasai, and Zacharias, and Banaias, and Eliezer the priests, sounded with trumpets, before the ark of God: and Obededom and Jehias were porters of the ark.

²⁵ So David and all the ancients of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy.

²⁶ And when God had helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they offered in sacrifice seven oxen, and seven rams.

²⁷ And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that carried the ark, and the singing men, and Chonenias the ruler of the prophecy among the singers: and David also had on him an ephod of linen.

²⁸ And all Israel brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord with joyful shouting, and sounding with the sound of the comet, and with trumpets, and cymbals, and psalteries, and harps.

²⁹ And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was come to the city of David, Michol the daughter of Saul looking out at a window, saw king David dancing and playing, and she despised him in her heart.