David Assigns the Temple Musicians Their Duties

25 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 14 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 14 sons and 3 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 288 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.

¹² The guards were divided into groups, according to their family leaders, and they were assigned duties at the temple, just like the other Levites.