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1 Chronicles 13:8

David and all Israel played before God with all their might, even with songs, with harps, with stringed instruments, with tambourines, with cymbals, and with trumpets.
1 Chronicles 13:8 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.
  • BSB David and all the Israelites were celebrating before God with all their might, with songs and on harps and lyres, with tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
  • NKJV Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets.
  • NASB David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
  • NLT David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

David and all Israel celebrated before God with wholehearted music and song. Their joyful, exuberant worship accompanied the ark's procession.

Overview

The scene overflows with energetic praise, harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets, as David and the nation worshiped 'with all their might.' The sincerity and joy of their devotion is genuine and commendable. Yet the very next verses reveal that heartfelt enthusiasm, however real, does not excuse disregarding God's appointed order for handling holy things.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Ps 150:3–5Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet! Praise him with harp and lyre!
  • 2 Sam 6:5–23David and all the house of Israel played before Yahweh with all kinds of instruments made of cypress wood, with harps, with stringed instruments, with tambourines, with castanets, and with cymbals.
  • 1 Chr 15:28Thus all Israel brought the ark of Yahweh’s covenant up with shouting, with sound of the cornet, with trumpets, and with cymbals, sounding aloud with stringed instruments and harps.
  • 1 Chr 15:10–24of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and his brothers one hundred twelve.
  • Ps 47:5God has gone up with a shout, Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.
  • Ps 68:25–27The singers went before, the minstrels followed after, among the ladies playing with tambourines,
  • 1 Chr 16:5Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, with stringed instruments and with harps; and Asaph with cymbals, sounding aloud;
  • 1 Chr 23:5four thousand were doorkeepers, and four thousand praised Yahweh with the instruments which I made for giving praise.”
  • Dan 3:5–7that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up;
  • 1 Chr 25:1–6Moreover, David and the captains of the army set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with harps, with stringed instruments, and with cymbals. The number of those who did the work according to their service was:
  • 1 Sam 10:5“After that you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is; and it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a lute, a tambourine, a pipe, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying.
  • 2 Kgs 3:15But now bring me a musician.” When the musician played, Yahweh’s hand came on him.
  • 1 Chr 16:42and with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun to be at the gate.
  • Amos 6:5who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
  • Amos 5:23Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Chronicles videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Chronicles 13:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 ChroniclesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.

How 1 Chronicles 13:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.