Shemini

This translation was taken from the JPS Tanakh.

II Samuel 6:1 – 7:17  

Chapter 6

¹ David again assembled all the picked men of Israel, thirty thousand strong. ² Then David and all the troops that were with him set out from Baalim of Judah to bring up from there the Ark of God to which the Name was attached, the name Lord of Hosts Enthroned on the Cherubim.

³ They loaded the Ark of God onto a new cart and conveyed it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Abinadab’s sons, Uzza and Ahio, guided the new cart. ⁴ They conveyed it from Abinadab’s house on the hill, [Uzzah walking] alongside the Ark of God and Ahio walking in front of the Ark. ⁵ Meanwhile, David and all the House of Israel danced before the Lord to [the sound of] all kinds of cypress wood [instruments], with lyres, harps, timbrels, sistrums, and cymbals.

⁶ But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out for the Ark of God and grasped it, for the oxen had stumbled. ⁷ The Lord was incensed at Uzzah. And God struck him down on the spot for his indiscretion, and he died there beside the Ark of God. ⁸David was distressed because the Lord had inflicted a breach upon Uzzah; and that place was named Perez-uzzah, as it is still called.

⁹ David was afraid of the Lord that day; he said, “How can I let the Ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰ So David would not bring the Ark of the Lord to his place in the City of David; instead, David diverted it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹ The Ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his whole household.

¹² It was reported to King David: “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s house and all that belongs to him because of the Ark of God.” Thereupon David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David, amid rejoicing. ¹³ When the bearers of the Ark of the Lord had moved forward six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. ¹⁴ David whirled with all his might before the Lord; David was girt with a linen ephod. ¹⁵ Thus David and all the House of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts and with blasts of the horn.

¹⁶ As the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him for it.

¹⁷ They brought in the Ark of the Lord and set it up in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. ¹⁸ When David finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts. ¹⁹ And he distributed among all the people — the entire multitude of Israel, man and woman alike — to each a loaf of bread, a cake made in a pan, and a raisin cake. Then all the people left for their homes. 
Sepharadim end here

²⁰ David went home to greet his household. And Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “Didn’t the king of Israel do himself honor today — exposing himself today in the sight of the slavegirls of his subjects, as one of the riffraff might expose himself!”²¹ David answered Michal, “It was before the Lord who chose me instead of your father and all his family and appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel! I will dance before the Lord ²² and dishonor myself even more, and be low in my own esteem; but among the slavegirls that you speak of I will be honored.” ²³ So to her dying day Michal daughter of Saul had no children.

Chapter 7
¹ When the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had granted him safety from all the enemies around him, ² the king said to the prophet Nathan: “Here I am dwelling in a house of cedar, while the Ark of the Lord abides in a tent!” ³ Nathan said to the king, “Go and do whatever you have in mind, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ⁵ “Go and say to My servant David: Thus said the Lord: Are you the one to build a house for Me to dwell in? ⁶ From the day that I brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to this day I have not dwelt in a house, but have moved about in Tent and Tabernacle. ⁷ As I moved about wherever the Israelites went, did I ever reproach any of the tribal leaders whom I appointed to care for My people Israel: Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?

⁸ “Further, say thus to My servant David: Thus said the Lord of Hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be ruler of My people Israel, ⁹ and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut down all your enemies before you. Moreover, I will give you great renown like that of the greatest men on earth. ¹⁰ I will establish a home for My people Israel and will plant them firm, so that they shall dwell secure and shall tremble no more. Evil men shall not oppress them any more as in the past, ¹¹ ever since I appointed chieftains over My people Israel. I will give you safety from all your enemies.

“The Lord declares to you that He, the Lord, will establish a house for you. ¹² When your days are done and you lie with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own issue, and I will establish his kingship. ¹³ He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. ¹⁴ I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will chastise him with the rod of men and the affliction of mortals; ¹⁵ but I will never withdraw My favor from him as I withdrew it from Saul, whom I removed to make room for you. ¹⁶ Your house and your kingship shall ever be secure before you; your throne shall be established forever.”

¹⁷ Nathan spoke to David in accordance with all these words and all this prophecy.

Taken from Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures, (Philadelphia, Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society) 1985.
Used by permission of The Jewish Publication Society. Copyright © 1962, 1992
Third Edition by the Jewish Publication Society.
No part of this text can be reproduced or forwarded without written permission.
Please visit the JPS website for more fine books of Jewish literature and tradition.