Summary
David gathers thirty thousand chosen men and, with a new cart, transports the Ark from Gibeah to Jerusalem. While the Ark rolls on a threshingfloor, Uzzah reaches out to steady it, and God strikes him down, creating a place name that endures. David, fearful, keeps the Ark in Obededom’s house for three months, where it blesses the Gittite and his household. The Ark is then brought back to Jerusalem with great rejoicing, and David, wearing a linen ephod, dances before the Lord to the sound of trumpets. The people offer burnt and peace offerings, receive bread, meat, and wine, and then depart to their homes. Michal, Saul’s daughter, sees David’s ecstatic dancing from a window, despises him, and later confronts him, declaring she will never have children. David replies that his actions are for the Lord and that Michal’s scorn will lead to her barrenness.