5. Uriel, the leader of the Kohath clan, and one hundred and twenty of his relatives;
6. Asaiah, the leader of the Merari clan, and two hundred and twenty of his relatives;
7. Joel, the leader of the Gershon clan, and one hundred and thirty of his relatives;
8. Shemaiah, the leader of the Elizaphan clan, and two hundred of his relatives;
9. Eliel, the leader of the Hebron clan, and eighty of his relatives; and
10. Amminadab, the leader of the Uzziel clan, with one hundred and twelve of his relatives.
11. David called together these six Levites and the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar.
12. He said to them, “You are the leaders of the clans in the Levi tribe. You and your relatives must first go through the ceremony to make yourselves clean and acceptable to the Lord. Then you may carry the sacred chest that belongs to the Lord God of Israel and bring it to the place I have prepared for it.
13. The first time we tried to bring the chest to Jerusalem, we didn't ask the Lord what he wanted us to do. He was angry with us, because you Levites weren't there to carry the chest.”
14. The priests and the Levites made themselves clean. They were now ready to carry the sacred chest
15. on poles that rested on their shoulders, just as the Lord had told Moses to do.
16. David then told the leaders to choose some Levites to sing and play music on small harps, other stringed instruments, and cymbals.
17-21. The men chosen to play the cymbals were Heman the son of Joel, his relative Asaph the son of Berechiah, and Ethan the son of Kushaiah from the Merari clan. Some of their assistants played the smaller harps: they were Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah. Others played the larger harps: they were Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Azaziah, and two of the temple guards, Obed-Edom and Jeiel.
22. Chenaniah was chosen to be the music director, because he was a skilled musician.
23-24. Four Levites were then appointed to guard the sacred chest. They were Berechiah, Elkanah, Obed-Edom, and Jehiah.Finally, David chose priests to walk in front of the sacred chest and blow trumpets. They were Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer.
25. David, the leaders of Israel, and the army commanders were very happy as they went to Obed-Edom's house to get the sacred chest.