Groups of temple musicians

25 David and the army officers chose some Levites to serve God as musicians. They belonged to the families of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun. They chose these men to speak messages from God while they made music with harps, lyres and cymbals. Here is a list of the men that they chose for this work:

² From Asaph's sons, there were: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah. Asaph had authority over their work. He would speak a message from God when the king told him to do that.

³ From Jeduthun's sons, there were six musicians: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah and Mattithiah. Their father Jeduthun had authority over their work. He spoke messages from God while he made music with a harp. He also sang to thank the Lord and to praise him.

⁴ From Heman's sons, there were: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir and Mahazioth. ⁵ All those men were sons of Heman, the king's prophet. God had promised to give Heman many children who would give him honour. God gave him 14 sons and three daughters.

⁶ All these musicians were under the authority of their fathers. They used cymbals, harps and lyres to make music to worship the Lord in his temple. The king had authority over Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman. ⁷ All those men had skills to make good music, as well as their relatives. There were 288 Levites who served the Lord as musicians. ⁸ They used lots to decide the right work for each musician. They chose work for everyone in the same way: the young men and the older men, the teachers and the students.

^9-31 They chose 24 groups of musicians. There were 12 musicians in each group and each group had its leader. These were the names of the leaders of each group, from the first to the last that they chose: