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1 Chronicles 13:8

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.
1 Chronicles 13:8 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB 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.
  • 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 sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
  • 2 Sam 6:5–23And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.
  • 1 Chr 15:28Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps.
  • 1 Chr 15:10–24Of the sons of Uzziel; Amminadab the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twelve.
  • Ps 47:5God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
  • Ps 68:25–27The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.
  • 1 Chr 16:5Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals;
  • 1 Chr 23:5Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.
  • Dan 3:5–7That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
  • 1 Chr 25:1–6Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was:
  • 1 Sam 10:5After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:
  • 2 Kgs 3:15But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.
  • 1 Chr 16:42And with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should make a sound, and with musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were porters.
  • Amos 6:5That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;
  • Amos 5:23Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

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.