Musicians in the House of the Lord

³¹ Now these are ^(A)the men whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after the ^(B)ark came to rest.

¹⁷ So ^(A)they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in ^(B)its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David ^(C)offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

⁴ And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to ^(A)commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: ⁵ Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then ^(B)Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals; ⁶ Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.

²⁵ So ^(A)David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with joy. ²⁶ And so it was, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷ David was clothed with a robe of fine ^(B)linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. ^28 (C)Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets and with cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps.

²⁹ And it happened, ^(D)as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the City of David, that Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David whirling and playing music; and she despised him in her heart.

The Ark Placed in the Tabernacle^(E)

16 So ^(F)they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

¹⁶ Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy. ¹⁷ So the Levites appointed ^(A)Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, ^(B)Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren, the sons of Merari, ^(C)Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their brethren of the second rank: Zechariah, ^[a]Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers; ¹⁹ the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound the cymbals of bronze; ²⁰ Zechariah, ^[b]Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to ^(D)Alamoth; ²¹ Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the ^(E)Sheminith; ²² Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was instructor in charge of the music, because he was skillful;

The Musicians

25 Moreover David and the captains of the army separated for the service some of the sons of ^(A)Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals. And the number of the skilled men performing their service was: ² Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and ^[a]Asharelah; the sons of Asaph were ^[b]under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied according to the order of the king. ³ Of ^(B)Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, ^[c]Zeri, Jeshaiah, ^[d]Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, ^[e]six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord. ⁴ Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, ^[f]Uzziel, ^[g]Shebuel, ^[h]Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵ All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to ^[i]exalt his ^(C)horn. For God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

⁶ All these were under the direction of their father for the music in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and ^(D)harps, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were ^(E)under the authority of the king. ⁷ So the ^(F)number of them, with their brethren who were instructed in the songs of the Lord, all who were skillful, was two hundred and eighty-eight.

⁸ And they cast lots for their duty, the small as well as the great, ^(G)the teacher with the student.

⁹ Now the first lot for Asaph came out for Joseph; the second for Gedaliah, him with his brethren and sons, twelve; ¹⁰ the third for Zaccur, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹¹ the fourth for ^[j]Jizri, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹² the fifth for Nethaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹³ the sixth for Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁴ the seventh for ^[k]Jesharelah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁵ the eighth for Jeshaiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁶ the ninth for Mattaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁷ the tenth for Shimei, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁸ the eleventh for ^[l]Azarel, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁹ the twelfth for Hashabiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁰ the thirteenth for ^[m]Shubael, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²¹ the fourteenth for Mattithiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²² the fifteenth for ^[n]Jeremoth, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²³ the sixteenth for Hananiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁴ the seventeenth for Joshbekashah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁵ the eighteenth for Hanani, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁶ the nineteenth for Mallothi, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁷ the twentieth for Eliathah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁸ the twenty-first for Hothir, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁹ the twenty-second for Giddalti, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ³⁰ the twenty-third for Mahazioth, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ³¹ the twenty-fourth for Romamti-Ezer, his sons and his brethren, twelve.