2 Samuel 6
Open in the reader1Beloved again assembled the chosen men of Strives-with-God, thirty thousand in all.
2And he and all his troops set out for Baale of Judah to bring up from there the Chest of God, which is called by the Name— the name of He-Who-Is of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.
3They set the Chest of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of My-Father-Is-Generous, which was on the hill. Strength and His-Brother, the sons of My-Father-Is-Generous, were guiding the new cart,
4bringing with it the Chest of God. And His-Brother was walking in front of the Chest.
5Beloved and all the house of Strives-with-God were celebrating before He-Who-Is with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
6When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Strength reached out and took hold of the Chest of God, because the oxen had stumbled.
7And the anger of He-Who-Is burned against Strength, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the Chest of God.
8Then Beloved became angry because He-Who-Is had burst forth against Strength. So he named that place Breach-of-Uzzah, as it is called to this day.
9That day Beloved feared He-Who-Is and asked, “How can the Chest of He-Who-Is ever come to me?”
10So he was unwilling to move the Chest of He-Who-Is to the City of Beloved; instead, he took it aside to the house of Servant-of-Edom the Winepress-One.
11Thus the Chest of He-Who-Is remained in the house of Servant-of-Edom the Winepress-One for three months, and He-Who-Is blessed him and all his household.
12Now it was reported to King Beloved, “He-Who-Is has blessed the house of Servant-of-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the Chest of God.” So Beloved went and had the Chest of God brought up from the house of Servant-of-Edom into the City of Beloved with rejoicing.
13When those carrying the Chest of He-Who-Is had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.
14And Beloved, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before He-Who-Is,
15while he and all the house of Strives-with-God brought up the Chest of He-Who-Is with shouting and the sounding of the ram’s horn.
16As the Chest of He-Who-Is was entering the City of Beloved, Asked-For’s daughter Brook looked down from a window and saw King Beloved leaping and dancing before He-Who-Is, and she despised him in her heart.
17So they brought the Chest of He-Who-Is and set it in its place inside the tent that Beloved had pitched for it. Then Beloved offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before He-Who-Is.
18When Beloved had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of He-Who-Is of Hosts.
19Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Strives-with-God a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each to his own home.
20When Beloved returned home to bless his own household, Asked-For’s daughter Brook came out to meet him. “How the king of Strives-with-God has distinguished himself today!” she said. “He has uncovered himself today in the sight of the maidservants of his subjects, like a vulgar person would do.”
21But Beloved said to Brook, “I was dancing before He-Who-Is, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over He-Who-Is’s people Strives-with-God. I will celebrate before He-Who-Is,
22and I will humiliate and humble myself even more than this. Yet I will be honored by the maidservants of whom you have spoken.”
23And Brook the daughter of Asked-For had no children to the day of her death.