The Temple Musicians^(A)

³¹ These are the men^(B) David put in charge of the music^(C) in the house of the Lord after the ark came to rest there.

¹⁷ They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it,^(A) and David sacrificed burnt offerings^(B) and fellowship offerings before the Lord.

⁴ He appointed some of the Levites to minister^(A) before the ark of the Lord, to extol,^[a] thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel: ⁵ Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel,^[b] 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.

²⁵ So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of units of a thousand went to bring up the ark^(A) of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom, with rejoicing. ²⁶ Because God had helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, seven bulls and seven rams^(B) were sacrificed. ²⁷ Now David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and as were the musicians, and Kenaniah, who was in charge of the singing of the choirs. David also wore a linen ephod.^{(C) 28} So all Israel^(D) brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts,^(E) with the sounding of rams’ horns^(F) and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps.

²⁹ As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him in her heart.

Ministering Before the Ark^(G)(H)(I)

16 They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched^(J) for it, and they presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God.

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; ²⁰ Zechariah, Jaaziel,^[c] Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were to play the lyres according to alamoth,^{[d] 21} and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah were to play the harps, directing according to sheminith.^{[e] 22} Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it.

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.