21 Bible Verses about Musicians

Now these [are the men] whom David appointed for {control of singing} in the house of Yahweh where the ark rested. They were ministering with song before the tabernacle of the tent of assembly until Solomon built the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. And they stood according to their order with respect to their duty. Now these [are] those who served and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, son of Samuel,read more.
son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah, son of Zuph, son of Elkanah, son of Mahath, son of Amasai, son of Elkanah, son of Joel, son of Azariah, son of Zephaniah, son of Tahath, son of Assir, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Israel; and his brother Asaph, who stood on his right [namely], Asaph the son of Berechiah, son of Shimea, son of Michael, son of Baaseiah, son of Malkijah, son of Ethni, son of Zerah, son of Adaiah, son of Ethan, son of Zimmah, son of Shimei, son of Jahath, son of Gershom, son of Levi. On the left [were] their brothers, the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, son of Abdi, son of Malluch, son of Hashabiah, son of Amaziah, son of Hilkiah, son of Amzi, son of Bani, son of Shemer, son of Mahli, son of Mushi, son of Merari, son of Levi.

Then David ordered the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers [as] singers with instruments of song, musical instruments, stringed instruments, and cymbals, {raising their voices for joy}. So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel, and from his brothers, Asaph the son of Berekiah, and from the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;

And David and the commanders of the army set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, [of] Heman, and [of] Jeduthun, who prophesied with stringed instruments, with harps, and with cymbals. And their inventory of the men of the work [and] for their duty was: for the sons of Asaph: Zakkur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, sons of Asaph, under the hand of Asaph, who prophesied under the hands of the king. Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Heshabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the stringed instrument with thanksgiving and praise to Yahweh.read more.
Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth. All these [were] sons to Heman, the seer of the king, according to the words of God to raise a horn. And God had given to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

Now the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, [were] to sound bronze cymbals; Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah [were to play] on harps according to Alamoth; and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah [were to play] lyres, directing according to the Sheminith.

Then David ordered the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers [as] singers with instruments of song, musical instruments, stringed instruments, and cymbals, {raising their voices for joy}.

All these [were] under the {direction} of their father in the music of the house of Yahweh, with cymbals, harps, and stringed instruments for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman [were] under the {direction} of the king. And their number, along with their brothers, trained singers, all the skilled people for Yahweh, were two hundred and eighty-eight.

And they cast lots [for] responsibilities {on the principle of small and great alike}, teacher with student. And the first lot for Asaph went out to Joseph; the second to Gedaliahu; he and his brothers and his twelve sons. The third, Zakkur, his sons and his brothers, twelve;read more.
the fourth to Izri, his sons and his brothers, twelve; the fifth, Nethaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; the sixth, Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; the seventh, Jesarelah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; the eighth, Jeshaiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; the ninth, Mattaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; the tenth, Shimei, his sons and his brothers, twelve; eleventh, Azarel, his sons and his brothers, twelve; the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] thirteenth, Shubael, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] fourteenth, Mattithiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] fifteenth, to Jeremoth, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] sixteenth, to Hananiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] seventeenth, to Joshbekashah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] eighteenth, to Hanani, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] nineteenth, to Mallothi, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] twentieth, to Eliathah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] twenty-first, to Hothir, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] twenty-second, to Giddalti, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] twenty-third, to Mahazioth, his sons and his brothers, twelve; to [the] twenty-fourth, to Romamti-ezer, his sons and his brothers, twelve.

and all the Levitical singers--Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, their sons, their brothers, dressed [in] fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and stringed instruments--[they] were standing to the east of the altar. And with them outside [were] one hundred and twenty priests [who were] trumpet blowers. And it was the primary [duty] of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard [with] one voice, to praise and give thanks to Yahweh. And when a sound from the trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments of song was raised to Yahweh--for he [is] good, because his loyal love [is] everlasting--then the house, the house of Yahweh, was filled with a cloud.

Now these [were] the singers; the heads of the {families} of the Levites [were] in the chambers free from other service, for day and night [they were] over them on the service.

And the singers, the descendants of Asaph, [were] at their stations according to the decree of David and Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, the seer of the king. And the gatekeepers [were] at {each gate}. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites had made preparations for them.

And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. And when he built a city {he named the city after his son, Enoch}. And to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. And Lamech took to himself two wives. The name of the first [was] Adah, and the name of the second [was] Zillah.read more.
And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and [those who have] livestock. And the name of his brother [was] Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and wind instruments.

So the servants of Saul said to him, "Look please, an evil spirit from God [is] tormenting you. Please, let our lord command your servants [who are] before you! Let them seek a man skilled in playing on the lyre. {When} the evil spirit from God [is] upon you, he can play {on it} and {you will feel better}." So Saul said to his servants, "Please select a man {who plays a stringed instrument well} and bring [him] to me."read more.
One of the servants answered and said, "Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite [who is] skillful in playing a stringed instrument, a {brave man, a warrior, prudent in speech, and handsome}. And Yahweh [is] with him."

So whenever the [evil] spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the stringed instrument and play it with his hand. Then {it would bring relief} for Saul; {he would feel better} and the evil spirit would depart from him.

{On} [the] next day, the evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he prophesied in the middle of the house. Now David was playing [the lyre] with his hand on [that] day {as usual}, and the spear was in Saul's hand. Then Saul hurled the spear and thought, "{I will pin David to the wall}." But David eluded him twice.

Then the evil spirit from Yahweh came upon Saul while he was sitting in his house [with] his spear in his hand. And David [was] playing a stringed instrument in [his] hand. So Saul tried {to pin David to the wall with the spear}, but {he eluded Saul}, so that he struck the spear into the wall, and David fled and escaped that [same] night.

Now David and all the house of Israel [were] dancing before Yahweh, with all kinds of [musical instruments made from] ash trees, and with zithers, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

These [are] the last words of David, the declaration of David the son of Jesse, and the declaration of the man exalted [by] the Most High, the anointed one of the God of Jacob and the darling of the songs of Israel.

They have seen your processions, O God, the processions of my God, my king, distinctive [in victory]. Singers went up front, those playing stringed instruments last, between [them] young women [playing] tambourines.

Then Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we might inquire [guidance] from Yahweh?" One of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, "Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah." Jehoshaphat said, "The word of Yahweh is with him." So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to him. Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, "{What do we have in common}? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother." Then the king of Israel said to him, "No, for Yahweh has called for these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab."read more.
Then Elisha said, "{As Yahweh of hosts lives}, before whom I stand, surely if I was not {regarding the face} of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would have not looked at you nor even glanced at you. But now, bring me a musician." It happened that at the moment the musician played, the hand of Yahweh came upon him. He said, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Make this wadi {full of cisterns},' for thus says Yahweh, 'You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this wadi will be full of water; and you and all of your livestock and your animals shall drink.' And since this is too trivial in the eyes of Yahweh, he will also give Moab into your hand, and you shall defeat every fortified city, every choice city, and you shall fell every good tree. All of the springs of water you shall stop up, and every tract of good land you shall ruin with the stones."

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion. On [the] willows in her midst, we hung up our lyres. For there our captors asked of us words of a song, and our tormentors [asked of us] jubilation, "Sing for us from a song of Zion."

And one powerful angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw [it] into the sea, saying, "In this way Babylon the great city will be thrown down with violence, and will never be found again! And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will never be heard in you again! And every craftsman of every trade will never be found in you again! And the sound of a mill will never be heard in you again!