For the law foretold that those from Israel who believed, mixed with those from the Gentiles, were about to offer the sacrifices of praise to God.

Therefore, this practice was found from the law, I mean, the glorifying of the God of all in the holy temple; and for this were appointed choirs and choir leaders, singers and sacred chanters from the sons of Levi, and they offered up hymns to God in the morning and in the evening when the lambs were sacrificed and the fine and compound incense was burned. For it is written thus in Exodus: "And these are the things which you shall do upon the altar: two unblemished yearling lambs a day upon the altar continually, you shall offer the one lamb as a continual burnt offering in the morning, and the second lamb you shall offer in the evening." And concerning the incense, it spoke thus: "And you shall make an altar of incense of incorruptible wood." And it adds to this: "And he shall burn fine [incense] on it morning by morning, when he trims the lamps; in the evening, he shall burn on it continual incense perpetually before the Lord for their generations." And the sacrifice of the lambs would signify that Christ was sacrificed for us and on our behalf and was offered up as a fragrant aroma to God the Father; but also the offering of the fine and compound incense would certainly imply this very thing, for the sacrifice is continual and unceasing; for Emmanuel is always spiritually fragrant, being the aroma of the knowledge of God the Father, and showing his holy tabernacle, that is, the Church, to be full of him.

They sang, therefore, as I said, when the sacrifice of the lambs was being performed, and for all the other sacrifices, fittingly for each, as was likely; for it is written thus in the first of Chronicles: "And the Levites were carrying the tabernacle and all its vessels for its service; for also in the last words of David is the number of the sons of Levi from twenty years old and upward, that he set them under the hand of Aaron to minister in the house of the Lord in the courts and in the chambers, and for the purification of all the holy things, and for the works of service of the house of God, and for the bread of the presence, for the fine flour of the sacrifice, and for the unleavened wafers, and for the baking pan, and for the mixed offering, and for every measure; and to stand in the morning to praise and give thanks to the Lord, and likewise in the evening; and for all the burnt offerings offered to the Lord on the sabbaths and on the new moons and on the feasts according to number, according to the rule for them continually before the Lord."

But that certain chosen men from the blood of Levi were appointed for the songs, the sacred writing will again confirm, for it is thus in Chronicles: "And David the king and the commanders of the army set apart for the works the sons of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres and with harps and with cymbals." Therefore, those of whom the account speaks sang, I suppose, according to a local rhythm and one familiar to the Hebrew people, with psalms composed for them. And they say that the divine David, having taken over the temple, composed and sang some of them by himself, and again that others were psalm-singing priests, being holy and having the spirit of prophetic grace. For this reason also some were clearly inscribed "of David," and others "for David," with those who wrote them perhaps dedicating them to the blessed David as the inventor and first of psalmody, or also (which, as I think, seems more fitting to understand) referring the power of the song to Christ, for he has also been called David in the sacred writings precisely because he was born according to the flesh from the blood of the blessed David. And indeed it is written concerning the sons of Israel, that in the last times they too will repent, and will be called through faith to the knowledge of Christ. "For after these things," it says, "the sons of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king."

προανεφώνει γὰρ ὁ νόμος, ὅτι τοῖς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἀναμὶξ ἔμελλον οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ πιστεύσαντες τὰς τῆς αἰνέσεως θυσίας προσκομίζειν τῷ Θεῷ.

Ηὕρητο τοίνυν ἐκ νόμου τὸ χρῆμα, τὸ δοξολογεῖσθαί φημι τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ ναῷ· ἐτετάχατο δὲ εἰς τοῦτο χοροί τε καὶ χοροστάται, ᾠδοὶ καὶ ἱεροψάλται ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν Λευί, ἀνεκόμιζόν τε τὰς εἰς Θεὸν ὑμνωδίας πρωΐ τε καὶ ἐν ἑσπέρᾳ καταθυομένων τῶν ἀμνῶν καὶ θυμιωμένου τοῦ λεπτοῦ καὶ συνθέτου θυμιάματος. γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ οὕτως· Καὶ ταῦτά ἐστιν ἃ ποιήσεις ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου· ἀμνοὺς ἐνιαυσίους ἀμώμους δύο τὴν ἡμέραν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐνδελεχῶς, κάρπωμα ἐνδελεχισμοῦ τὸν ἀμνὸν τὸν ἕνα ποιήσεις τὸ πρωΐ, καὶ τὸν ἀμνὸν τὸν δεύτερον ποιήσεις τὸ δειλινόν. περὶ δέ γε τοῦ θυμιάματος οὕτως ἔφη· Καὶ ποιήσεις θυσιαστήριον θυμιάματος ἐκ ξύλων ἀσήπτων. προσεπάγει δὲ τούτοις· Καὶ καθίσει ἐπ' αὐτῷ λεπτὸν τὸ πρωῒ πρωΐ, ὅταν ἐπισκευάζῃ τοὺς λύχνους· ὀψέ, θυμιάσει ἐπ' αὐτοῦ θυμίαμα ἐνδελεχισμοῦ διαπαντὸς ἐναντίον Κυρίου εἰς τὰς γενεὰς αὐτῶν. καὶ ἡ μὲν τῶν ἀμνῶν θυσία κατασημαίνοιεν ἂν τὸν δι' ἡμᾶς καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τεθύσθαι Χριστὸν καὶ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ἀνακεκομίσθαι τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρί· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ τοῦ λεπτοῦ καὶ συνθέτου θυμιάματος ἀναφορὰ τοῦτο δὴ πάντως ὑπεμφαίνοιεν ἄν, ἐνδελεχὴς γὰρ καὶ ἀδιάλειπτος ἡ θυσία· ἀεὶ γὰρ εὐώδης νοητὸς ὁ Ἐμμανουήλ, ὀσμὴ τῆς γνώσεως ὢν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρός, καὶ μεστὴν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἁγίαν ἀποφαίνων σκηνὴν τουτέστι τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν.

Ἦδον τοιγαροῦν, ὡς ἔφην, τῆς τῶν ἀμνῶν θυσίας ἐπιτελουμένης, καὶ ἐφ' ἁπάσαις δὲ ταῖς ἑτέραις θυσίαις ἁρμοδίως ἑκάστῃ κατὰ τὸ εἰκός· γέγραπται γὰρ οὕτως ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ Παραλειπομένων· Καὶ οἱ Λευΐται ἦσαν αἴροντες τὴν σκηνὴν καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη αὐτῆς εἰς τὴν λειτουργίαν αὐτῆς· ὅτι καὶ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ∆αυὶδ τοῖς ἐσχάτοις ἐστὶν ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν υἱῶν Λευῒ ἀπὸ εἰκοσαετοῦς καὶ ἐπάνω, ὅτι ἔστησεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ χεῖρα Ἀαρὼν τοῦ λειτουργεῖν ἐν οἴκῳ Κυρίου ἐπὶ τὰς αὐλὰς καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ παστοφόρια, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν καθαρισμὸν πάντων τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα λειτουργίας οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως, εἰς τὴν σεμίδαλιν τῆς θυσίας, καὶ εἰς τὰ λάγανα τὰ ἄζυμα, καὶ εἰς τήγανον, καὶ εἰς τὴν πεφυραμένην, καὶ εἰς πᾶν μέτρον· καὶ τοῦ στῆναι πρωῒ τοῦ αἰνεῖν καὶ ἐξομολογεῖσθαι τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ οὕτως τὸ ἑσπέρας· καὶ ἐπὶ πάντων τῶν ἀναφερομένων ὁλοκαυτωμάτων τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν τοῖς σαββάτοις καὶ ἐν ταῖς νεομηνίαις καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς κατὰ ἀριθμόν, κατὰ τὴν κρίσιν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς διὰ παντὸς τῷ Κυρίῳ.

Ὅτι δὲ ἀπόλεκτοί τινες ἦσαν τῶν ἐξ αἵματος Λευῒ τεταγμένοι πρὸς τὰς ᾠδάς, πιστώσεται πάλιν τὸ γράμμα τὸ ἱερόν, ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως ἐν ταῖς Παραλειπομέναις· Καὶ ἔστησε ∆αυὶδ ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες τῆς δυνάμεως εἰς τὰ ἔργα τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἀσὰφ καὶ Αἰμὰν καὶ Ἰδιθοὺμ τοὺς ἀποφθεγγομένους ἐν κινύραις καὶ ἐν νάβλαις καὶ ἐν τυμπάνοις. ᾖδον μὲν οὖν οἱ περὶ ὧν ὁ λόγος, κατὰ ῥυθμὸν οἶμαί που τὸν ἐγχώριον καὶ τοῖς Ἑβραίων δήμοις ἐντριβῆ συντεθειμένων αὐτοῖς τῶν ψαλμῶν. φασὶ δὲ τοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν συνθεῖναί τε καὶ ᾆσαι δι' ἑαυτοῦ τὸ θεῖον καταλαβόντα νεὼν τὸν θεσπέσιον ∆αυίδ, τινὰς δὲ δὴ πάλιν τοὺς ψαλμῳδοὺς ἱερέας ὄντας καὶ ἁγίους καὶ πνεῦμα χάριτος ἔχοντας τῆς προφητικῆς. ταύτῃ τοι καὶ γεγράφθατο σαφῶς οἱ μὲν τοῦ ∆αυίδ, οἱ δὲ τῷ ∆αυίδ, ἀνατιθέντων τάχα που τῶν γεγραφότων αὐτοὺς ὡς εὑρετῇ καὶ πρώτῳ τῆς ψαλμῳδίας τῷ μακαρίῳ ∆αυίδ, ἢ καί (ὅπερ, ὥς γε οἶμαι, φαίνεται καὶ νοεῖν πρεπωδέστερον) τὴν τῆς ᾠδῆς δύναμιν ἀναφέροντες εἰς Χριστόν, ὠνόμασται γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν καὶ ∆αυὶδ διά τοι τὸ ἐξ αἵματος κατὰ σάρκα γενέσθαι τοῦ μακαρίου ∆αυίδ. καὶ γοῦν γέγραπται περὶ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ, ὡς ἐν ἐσχάτοις καιροῖς μεταγνώσονται καὶ αὐτοί, καὶ κεκλήσονται διὰ πίστεως εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, γάρ φησιν, ἐπιστρέψουσιν υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐπιζητήσουσιν Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν αὐτῶν καὶ ∆αυὶδ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῶν.