"Then the officers will address the men and say, 'Is there any man here who has just built a house, but has not yet dedicated it? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will dedicate his house.

I praise you, LORD, because you have saved me and kept my enemies from gloating over me.

The rest of the people of Israel and the remaining priests and Levites lived on their own property in the other cities and towns of Judah.

Next he sent for the descendants of Aaron and for the Levites.

He said to the Levites, "You are the leaders of the Levite clans. Purify yourselves and your fellow Levites, so that you can bring the Covenant Box of the LORD God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it.

All of his sons played cymbals and harps under their father's direction, to accompany the Temple worship. And Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under orders from the king.

Jeriah was the leader of the descendants of Hebron. In the fortieth year that David was king, an investigation was made of the family line of Hebron's descendants, and outstanding soldiers belonging to this family were found living at Jazer in the territory of Gilead.

(SEE 5:11)

He assembled a group of priests and Levites in the east courtyard of the Temple

Our ancestors were unfaithful to the LORD our God and did what was displeasing to him. They abandoned him and turned their backs on the place where he dwells.

Because of this the LORD has been angry with Judah and Jerusalem, and what he has done to them has shocked and frightened everyone. You know this very well.

"I have now decided to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that he will no longer be angry with us.

I assembled the entire group by the canal that runs to the town of Ahava, and we camped there three days. I found that there were priests in the group, but no Levites.

I sent them to Iddo, head of the community at Casiphia, to ask him and his associates, the Temple workers, to send us people to serve God in the Temple.

They also sent Hashabiah and Jeshaiah of the clan of Merari, with twenty of their relatives.

All the people who had come back from captivity built shelters and lived in them. This was the first time it had been done since the days of Joshua son of Nun, and everybody was excited and happy.

Be joyful in the LORD's presence, together with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. Do this at the one place of worship.

King David heard that because of the Covenant Box the LORD had blessed Obed Edom's family and all that he had; so he got the Covenant Box from Obed's house to take it to Jerusalem with a great celebration.

The king and the leaders of the nation told the Levites to sing to the LORD the songs of praise that were written by David and by Asaph the prophet. So everyone sang with great joy as they knelt and worshiped God.

Then the people of Israel---the priests, the Levites, and all the others who had returned from exile---joyfully dedicated the Temple.

Sing for joy to the LORD, all the earth; praise him with songs and shouts of joy!

Blow trumpets and horns, and shout for joy to the LORD, our king.

Sing to the LORD, all the world!

Worship the LORD with joy; come before him with happy songs!

May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice!

while David and all the people danced with all their might to honor God. They sang and played musical instruments---harps, drums, cymbals, and trumpets.

David commanded the leaders of the Levites to assign various Levites to sing and to play joyful music on harps and cymbals.

So all the Israelites accompanied the Covenant Box up to Jerusalem with shouts of joy, the sound of trumpets, horns, and cymbals, and the music of harps.

Asaph was appointed leader, with Zechariah as his assistant. Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed Edom, and Jeiel were to play harps. Asaph was to sound the cymbals,

Heman and Jeduthun also had charge of the trumpets and cymbals and the other instruments which were played when the songs of praise were sung. The members of Jeduthun's clan were in charge of guarding the gates.

four thousand to do guard duty, and four thousand to praise the LORD, using the musical instruments provided by the king for this purpose.

King David and the leaders of the Levites chose the following Levite clans to lead the worship services: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. They were to proclaim God's messages, accompanied by the music of harps and cymbals. This is the list of persons chosen to lead the worship, with the type of service that each group performed:

The six sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah. Under the direction of their father they proclaimed God's message, accompanied by the music of harps, and sang praise and thanks to the LORD.

God gave to Heman, the king's prophet, these fourteen sons and also three daughters, as he had promised, in order to give power to Heman.

(SEE 5:11)

The priests stood in the places that were assigned to them, and facing them stood the Levites, praising the LORD with the musical instruments that King David had provided and singing the hymn, "His Love Is Eternal!" as they had been commissioned by David. The priests blew trumpets while all the people stood.

When the builders started to lay the foundation of the Temple, the priests in their robes took their places with trumpets in their hands, and the Levites of the clan of Asaph stood there with cymbals. They praised the LORD according to the instructions handed down from the time of King David.

They sang the LORD's praises, repeating the refrain: "The LORD is good, and his love for Israel is eternal." Everyone shouted with all their might, praising the LORD, because the work on the foundation of the Temple had been started.

Shout for joy to God our defender; sing praise to the God of Jacob!

Blow the trumpet for the festival, when the moon is new and when the moon is full.

How good it is to give thanks to you, O LORD, to sing in your honor, O Most High God,

with the music of stringed instruments and with melody on the harp.

Praise his name with dancing; play drums and harps in praise of him.

Praise him for the mighty things he has done. Praise his supreme greatness.

Praise him with drums and dancing. Praise him with harps and flutes.

As he did so, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each had a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God's people.