David gathered the chosen men of Israel once again, thirty thousand in number. With them, he set out from Baalah in Judah to bring up the ark of God. This ark bore the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim upon it. It was a sacred symbol of God's presence among His people, and David desired to bring it to the City of David.
They placed the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which stood on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, guided the cart. Ahio walked in front of it, while the ark rested upon the cart behind him. As they moved along, David and the whole house of Israel celebrated before the LORD with all their strength. There was singing, and the sound of harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals filled the air.
When they reached the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled. At that moment, Uzzah reached out his hand and took hold of the ark of God to steady it. The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of this irreverent act, and God struck him down there beside the ark. Uzzah died in that place.
David was deeply disturbed and angry that the LORD's wrath had broken out against Uzzah. That place came to be called Perez Uzzah, a name it bears to this day. Fear also seized David, and he said to himself, "How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?" Because of this, he was unwilling to take the ark into the City of David. Instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.
The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom for three months, and during that time the LORD blessed him and his entire household. When King David was told that the LORD had blessed Obed-Edom and all that belonged to him because of the ark of God, David went down to bring the ark up from Obed-Edom's house to the City of David, this time with great rejoicing.
When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David danced before the LORD with all his might. Together, David and the whole house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts of joy and the sound of trumpets.
As the ark of the LORD entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, watched from a window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.
They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent David had pitched for it. David then sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the LORD. After finishing the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty.
He distributed to every person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women, a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins. After this, all the people returned to their homes.
When David returned home to bless his own household, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said with contempt that the king of Israel had made a spectacle of himself by uncovering himself in the sight of the servant girls, like a vulgar man.
David replied that he had danced before the LORD, who chose him rather than her father or anyone from Saul's house, and appointed him ruler over the LORD's people Israel. He said he would celebrate before the LORD, even if it meant becoming more undignified and humbling himself in his own eyes. He added that the servant girls she mentioned would still honor him.
And Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no children for the rest of her life.