13
David Has the Ark Brought to Obed Edom’s House
(2 Samuel 6:1–11)
1 David consulted with every officer who commanded a regiment or battalion. 2 Then he told the whole assembly of Israel, “If you approve and if the Lord our God has consented, we will send ⌞an invitation⌟ to the rest of our relatives in every region of Israel and to the priests and Levites in their cities and pasturelands so that they may join us. 3 Then we’ll bring back our God’s ark, which we ignored while Saul was king.”
4 The whole assembly agreed to this because the people considered it the right thing to do. 5 So David gathered all Israel from the Shihor River near Egypt to the border of Hamath in order to bring God’s ark from Kiriath Jearim.
6 David and all Israel went to Baalah in Kiriath Jearim, which is in Judah, to bring God’s ark ⌞to Jerusalem⌟. (The Lord is enthroned over the angels*⌞on the ark⌟ where his name is used.) 7 David and his men put God’s ark on a new cart from Abinadab’s home. Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart. 8 David and all Israel were celebrating in God’s presence with all their might, with songs, with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
9 But when they came to Chidon’s threshing floor,† the oxen stumbled. So Uzzah reached out to grab the ark. 10 The Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for reaching for the ark. He died in God’s presence.
11 David was angry because the Lord had struck Uzzah so violently. (That place is still called Perez Uzzah [The Striking of Uzzah] today.) 12 David was afraid of God that day. “How can I bring God’s ark to my ⌞city⌟?” he asked. 13 So he didn’t bring God’s ark to his ⌞home⌟, the City of David. Instead, he rerouted it to the home of Obed Edom, who was from Gath. 14 God’s ark stayed at the home of Obed Edom with his family for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom’s family and everything he owned.
* 13:6 Or “cherubim.” † 13:9 A threshing floor is an outdoor area where grain is separated from its husks.