¹⁶ David^(A) told the leaders of the Levites^(B) to appoint their fellow Levites as musicians^(C) to make a joyful sound with musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals.^(D)

¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman^(E) son of Joel; from his relatives, Asaph^(F) son of Berekiah; and from their relatives the Merarites,^(G) Ethan son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their relatives next in rank: Zechariah,^[a] Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom^(H) and Jeiel,^[b] the gatekeepers.

¹⁹ The musicians Heman,^(I) Asaph and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals;

⁵ Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel,^[a] Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, ⁶ and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷ That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise^(A) to the Lord in this manner:

The Musicians

25 David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph,^(A) Heman^(B) and Jeduthun^(C) for the ministry of prophesying,^(D) accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals.^(E) Here is the list of the men^(F) who performed this service:^(G)

² From the sons of Asaph:

³ As for Jeduthun, from his sons:^(H)

⁴ As for Heman, from his sons:

⁶ All these men were under the supervision of their father^(J) for the music of the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God.

Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman^(K) were under the supervision of the king.^{(L) 7} Along with their relatives—all of them trained and skilled in music for the Lord—they numbered 288. ⁸ Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots^(M) for their duties.

¹² All the Levites who were musicians^(A)—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets.^(B)

¹⁵ The musicians,^(A) the descendants of Asaph, were in the places prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made the preparations for them.

Nehemiah’s Prayer

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:

In the month of Kislev^(A) in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,^{(B) 2} Hanani,^(C) one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant^(D) that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

³ They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.^(E)”

⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.^(F) For some days I mourned and fasted^(G) and prayed before the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said:

I was cupbearer^(U) to the king.