1 Chronicles 16:4-37
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
David’s Directives for the Levites. 4 He then appointed certain Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to celebrate, thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel.(A) 5 Asaph was their chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Uzziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. These were to play on harps and lyres, while Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel were to be the regular trumpeters before the ark of the covenant of God.
7 On that same day, David appointed Asaph and his brothers to sing for the first time these praises of the Lord:
8 [a]Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name;(B)
make known among the peoples his deeds.
9 Sing praise, play music;
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
10 Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord!
11 Rely on the mighty Lord;
constantly seek his face.
12 Recall the wondrous deeds he has done,
his signs, and his words of judgment,
13 You sons of Israel, his servants,
offspring of Jacob, the chosen ones!
14 The Lord is our God;
who rules the whole earth.
15 He remembers forever his covenant
the pact imposed for a thousand generations—
16 Which was made with Abraham,
confirmed by oath to Isaac,
17 And ratified as binding for Jacob,
an everlasting covenant for Israel:
18 “To you will I give the land of Canaan,
your own allotted heritage.”
19 When they were few in number,
a handful, and strangers there,
20 Wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another,
21 He let no one oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:
22 “Do not touch my anointed,
to my prophets do no harm.”
23 (C)Sing to the Lord, all the earth,
announce his salvation, day after day.
24 Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
25 For great is the Lord and highly to be praised;
to be feared above all gods.
26 For the gods of the nations all do nothing,
but the Lord made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty go before him;
power and rejoicing are in his holy place.
28 Give to the Lord, you families of nations,
give to the Lord glory and might;
29 Give to the Lord the glory due his name!
Bring gifts, and come before him;
bow down to the Lord, splendid in holiness.
30 Tremble before him, all the earth;
the world will surely stand fast, never to be moved.
31 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let them say among the nations: The Lord is king.
32 Let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
33 Then let all the trees of the forest exult
before the Lord, who comes,
who comes to rule the earth.
34 (D)Give thanks to the Lord, who is good,
whose love endures forever;
35 And say, “Save us, O God, our savior,
gather us and deliver us from among the nations,
That we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in praising you.”
36 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Let all the people say, Amen! Hallelujah.
37 Then David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark regularly according to the daily ritual;
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- 16:8–36 A hymn composed of parts of several psalms: vv. 8–22 = Ps 105:1–15; vv. 23–33 = Ps 96:1–13; vv. 34–36 = Ps 106:1, 47–48. There are minor textual variants between this hymn and the psalms it is drawn from.
1 Chronicles 23:5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
5 four thousand were to be gatekeepers,(A) and four thousand were to praise the Lord with the instruments which [David] had devised for praise.
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1 Chronicles 25:1-7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 25
The Singers. 1 David and the leaders of the liturgy set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, who prophesied[a] to the accompaniment of lyres and harps and cymbals.(A)
This is the list of those who performed this service: 2 Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah, sons of Asaph, under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the guidance of the king. 3 Of Jeduthun, these sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah; six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied to the accompaniment of a lyre, to give thanks and praise to the Lord. 4 Of Heman, these sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael, and Jerimoth; Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. 5 All these were the sons of Heman, the king’s seer for divine matters; to exalt him God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.(B) 6 All these, whether of Asaph, Jeduthun, or Heman, were under their fathers’ direction in the singing in the house of the Lord to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps and lyres, serving in the house of God, under the guidance of the king.(C) 7 Their number, together with that of their kinsmen who were trained in singing to the Lord, all of them skilled men, was two hundred and eighty-eight.
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- 25:1 This list of twenty-four classes of Temple singers balances the list of the twenty-four classes of priests (24:4–19). The last nine names in v. 4, which seem to form a special group, were perhaps originally fragments or incipits (the opening words) of hymns. With some slight changes in the vocalization, these names would mean: “Have mercy on me, O Lord,” “Have mercy on me,” “You are my God,” “I magnify,” “I extol the help of…,” “Sitting in adversity,” “I have fulfilled,” “He made abundant,” and “Visions.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.