For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors<n id="1" /> for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanks to God.

<p class="poetry">The meadows are clothed with sheep,p> <p class="poetry">and the valleys are covered with grain.p> <p class="poetry">They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.p>

<p class="poetry">Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!p> <p class="poetry">Exalt the one who rides on the clouds!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> is his name!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Rejoice before him!p>

<t /><p class="psasuper">A well-written song<n id="2" /> by Ethan the Ezrachite.p> <p class="poetry">I will sing continually<n id="3" /> about the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s faithful deeds;p> <p class="poetry">to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="psasuper">A song, a psalm of David.p> <p class="poetry">I am determined,<n id="2" /> O God!p> <p class="poetry">I will sing and praise you with my whole heart.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">for there our captors ask us to compose songs;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Sing for us a song about Zion!&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">O God, I will sing a new song to you!p> <p class="poetry">Accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, I will sing praises to you,p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Praise the <sc>Lordsc>!p> <p class="poetry">Sing to the <sc>Lordsc> a new song!p> <p class="poetry">Praise him in the assembly of the godly!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">or like vinegar poured on soda,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">I<n id="1" /> will sing to my love &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">a song to my lover about his vineyard.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">My love had a vineyardp> <p class="poetry">on a fertile hill.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Sing to the <sc>Lordsc> a brand new song!p> <p class="poetry">Praise him<n id="1" /> from the horizon of the earth,p> <p class="poetry">you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you coastlands<n id="3" /> and those who live there!p>

<p class="poetry">Sing to the <sc>Lordsc>! Praise the <sc>Lordsc>!p> <p class="poetry">For he rescues the oppressed from the clutches of evildoers.<n id="1" />p>

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">Then Moses and the Israelites sang<n id="2" /> this song to the <sc>Lordsc>. They said,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will sing<n id="4" /> to the <sc>Lord,sc> for he has triumphed gloriously,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">the horse and its rider<n id="6" /> he has thrown into the sea.p>

Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah which all the male and female singers use to mourn Josiah to this very day. It has become customary in Israel to sing these; they are recorded in the Book of Laments.p>

<p class="bodytext">David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint some of their relatives as musicians; they were to play various instruments, including stringed instruments and cymbals, and to sing loudly and joyfully.<n id="1" />

He met<n id="1" /> with the people and appointed musicians to play before the <sc>Lordsc> and praise his majestic splendor. As they marched ahead of the warriors they said: &#8220;Give thanks to the <sc>Lordsc>, for his loyal love endures.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

In the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, Ezra brought<n id="1" /> up to Jerusalem<n id="2" /> some of the Israelites and some of the priests, the Levites, the attendants, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants.

<p class="bodytext">The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all the rest of Israel lived in their cities.p><t /><p class="bodytext">When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites<n id="1" /> were settled in their cities,<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">I also discovered that the grain offerings for the Levites had not been provided, and that as a result the Levites and the singers who performed this work had all gone off to their fields.

<t /><p class="psasuper">A musical composition<n id="2" /> by David, which he sang to the <sc>Lordsc> concerning<n id="3" /> a Benjaminite named Cush.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">O <sc>Lordsc> my God, in you I have taken shelter.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">Deliver me from all who chase me! Rescue me!p>