Read the Bible

David Assigns the Temple Musicians Their Duties

¹ David and the temple officials chose the descendants of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to be in charge of music. They were to praise the Lord by playing cymbals, harps and other stringed instruments. Here is a list of the musicians and their duties:

² Asaph's four sons, Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, were under the direction of their father and played music whenever the king told them to.

³ Jeduthun's six sons, Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei,^[a] Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, were under the direction of their father and played harps and sang praises to the Lord.

⁴ Heman had fourteen sons: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamtiezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth. ⁵ Heman was one of the king's prophets, and God honored Heman by giving him fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶ His sons were under his direction and played cymbals, harps, and other stringed instruments during times of worship at the temple.

Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman took their orders directly from the king.

⁷ There were two hundred eighty-eight of these men, and all of them were skilled musicians. ⁸ David assigned them their duties by asking the Lord what he wanted.^[b] Everyone was responsible for something, whether young or old, teacher or student.^9-31 The musicians were divided into twenty-four groups of twelve, and each group went by the name of their family leader. They were assigned their duties in the following order: Joseph, Gedaliah, Zaccur, Zeri, Nethaniah, Bukkiah, Asarelah, Jeshaiah, Mattaniah, Shimei, Uzziel, Hashabiah, Shebuel, Mattithiah, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Joshbekashah, Hanani, Mallothi, Eliathah, Hothir, Giddalti, Mahazioth, and Romamtiezer.