4 Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. 5 ^dAsaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God. 7 Then on that day ^eDavid first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brothers.

Worship Before the Ark

37 So David left Asaph and his brothers there ^fbefore the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister regularly before the ark ^gas each day required, 38 and also ^hObed-edom and his¹ sixty-eight brothers, while ^hObed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and ⁱHosah were to be gatekeepers. 39 And he left ^jZadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord ^kin the high place that was at Gibeon 40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord ^lon the altar of burnt offering ^mregularly morning and evening, to do all that is written in the Law of the Lord that he commanded Israel. 41 With them were ⁿHeman and Jeduthun ^oand the rest of those chosen and ^pexpressly named to give thanks to the Lord, ^qfor his steadfast love endures forever. 42 Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments ^rfor sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.

2 David¹ assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites, ^sthirty years old and upward, were numbered, and ^tthe total was ^u38,000 men. 4 “Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said,^{2 v}“shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 shall be ^wofficers and judges, 5 4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments ^xthat I have made for praise.” 6 ^yAnd David organized them in divisions ^zcorresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

David Organizes the Musicians

1 David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of ^yAsaph, and of ^zHeman, and of ^aJeduthun, who ^bprophesied with lyres, with ^charps, and with cymbals. The list of those who did the work and of their duties was: 2 Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah, sons of Asaph, under the direction of Asaph, who ^bprophesied under the direction of the king. 3 Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei,¹ Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, ^bwho prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. 4 Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth. 5 All these were the sons of Heman ^dthe king’s seer, according to the promise of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. 6 They were all under the direction of their father in the music in the house of the Lord with cymbals, ^charps, and lyres for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order of the king. 7 The number of them along with their brothers, who were trained in singing to the Lord, all who were skillful, was ^e288.