21 Bible Verses about Musicians

Now these are those whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the Lord after the ark [of the covenant] rested there. They ministered with singing before the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon had built the Lord’s house (temple) in Jerusalem, performing their service in due order. These men and their sons served from the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel [the great prophet and judge], read more.
the son of Elkanah [III], the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah, the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah [II], the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, the son of Elkanah [I], the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel (Jacob). Heman’s [tribal] brother Asaph stood at his right hand: Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea, the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchijah, the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei, the son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi. Their relatives the sons of Merari stood at the left hand: Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer, the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.

Then David told the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives as the singers, with instruments of music—harps, lyres, and cymbals—to play loudly and to raise sounds of joy [with their voices]. So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and from his relatives, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah,

Moreover, David and the commanders of the army selected for the [temple] service some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with lyres, harps, and cymbals. The list of the musicians who performed their service was as follows: Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah; the sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king. Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. read more.
Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. All these [men] were the sons of Heman the king’s seer to exalt him in accordance with the words of God; for God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were appointed to sound aloud the bronze cymbals; and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah [were to play] with harps tuned to Alamoth [that is, a high pitch]; and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres set to Sheminith [that is, the eighth string, a low pitch].

Then David told the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives as the singers, with instruments of music—harps, lyres, and cymbals—to play loudly and to raise sounds of joy [with their voices].

All these were under the direction of their father to sing in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order and direction of the king. So their number [who led the remainder of the 4,000], with their relatives who were trained in singing to the Lord, all who were skillful, was 288.

The musicians cast lots for their duties, everyone alike, the small (younger) as well as the great (older), the teacher as well as the student. The first lot for Asaph fell to Joseph; the second to Gedaliah, to him, his relatives and his sons, twelve; the third to Zaccur, his sons and his relatives, twelve; read more.
the fourth to Izri, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the seventh to Jesharelah, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the tenth to Shimei, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the thirteenth to Shubael, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the fourteenth to Mattithiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the fifteenth to Jeremoth, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the sixteenth to Hananiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the seventeenth of Joshbekashah, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the eighteenth to Hanani, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the nineteenth to Mallothi, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the twentieth to Eliathah, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the twenty-first to Hothir, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the twenty-second to Giddalti, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the twenty-third to Mahazioth, his sons and his relatives, twelve; the twenty-fourth to Romamti-ezer, his sons and his relatives, twelve.

and all of the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, with their sons and relatives, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres were standing at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets in unison when the trumpeters and singers were to make themselves heard with one voice praising and thanking the Lord, and when they raised their voices accompanied by the trumpets and cymbals and [other] instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever,” then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud,

Now these are the singers, heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites, living in the temple chambers, free from other service because they were on duty day and night.

The singers, the sons of Asaph, were also in their places in accordance with the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their service, because their kinsmen the Levites prepared for them.

Cain knew his wife [one of Adam’s descendants] and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city and named it Enoch, after the name of his son. Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech. And Lamech took for himself two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. read more.
Adah gave birth to Jabal; he became the father of those [nomadic herdsmen] who live in tents and have cattle and raise livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he became the father of all those [musicians] who play the lyre and flute.

Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command your servants who are here before you to find a man who plays skillfully on the harp; and when the evil spirit from God is on you, he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.” So Saul told his servants, “Find me a man who plays well and bring him to me.” read more.
One of the young men said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a brave and competent man, a warrior, discerning (prudent, eloquent) in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him.”

So it came about that whenever the [evil] spirit from God was on Saul, David took a harp and played it with his hand; so Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would leave him.

Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul, and he raved [madly] inside his house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and there was a spear in Saul’s hand. Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.

Then an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence, so that Saul only stuck the spear into the wall. Then David fled and escaped that night.

Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating and dancing before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of fir or cypress wood, with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

Now these are the last words of David.David the son of Jesse declares,
The man who was raised on high declares,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel,

They have seen Your [solemn] procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary [in holiness].

The singers go in front, the players of instruments last;
Between them the maidens playing on tambourines.

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here from whom we may inquire of the Lord?” One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who used to pour water over Elijah’s hands.” Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to Elisha. Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What business do you have with me? Go to the prophets of your [wicked] father [Ahab] and to the prophets of your [pagan] mother [Jezebel].” But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to be handed over to Moab.” read more.
Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts (armies) lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you [king of Israel]. But now bring me a musician.” And it came about while the musician played, that the hand (power) of the Lord came upon Elisha. He said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Make this valley (the Arabah) full of trenches.’ For thus says the Lord, ‘You will not see wind or rain, yet that valley will be filled with water, so you and your cattle and your other animals may drink. This is but a simple thing in the sight of the Lord; He will also hand over the Moabites to you. You shall strike every fortified city and every choice (principal) city, and cut down every good tree and stop up all sources of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.’”

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we [captives] sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion [the city God imprinted on our hearts].

On the willow trees in the midst of Babylon
We hung our harps.

For there they who took us captive demanded of us a song with words,
And our tormentors [who made a mockery of us demanded] amusement, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

Then a single powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone and flung it into the sea, saying, “With such violence will Babylon the great city be hurled down [by the sudden, spectacular judgment of God], and will never again be found. And the sound of harpists and musicians and flutists and trumpeters will never again be heard in you, and no skilled artisan of any craft will ever again be found in you, and the sound of the millstone [grinding grain] will never again be heard in you [for commerce will no longer flourish, and normal life will cease].