1. Some time later, David talked with his army commanders,
2-3. and then announced to the people of Israel:While Saul was king, the sacred chest was ignored. But now it's time to bring the chest to Jerusalem. We will invite everyone in Israel to come here, including the priests and the Levites in the towns surrounded by pasture land. But we will do these things only if you agree, and if the Lord our God wants us to.
4. The people agreed this was the right thing to do.
5. David gathered everyone from the River Shihor in Egypt to Lebo-Hamath in the north.
6. Then he led them to Baalah in Judah, which was also called Kiriath-Jearim. They went there to get the sacred chest and bring it to Jerusalem, because it belonged to the Lord God, whose throne is above the winged creatures on the lid of the chest.
7. The sacred chest was still at Abinadab's house, and when David and the crowd arrived there, they brought the chest outside and placed it on a new ox cart. Abinadab's sons Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart,
8. while David and the crowd danced and sang praises to the Lord with all their might. They played music on small harps and other stringed instruments, and on tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.