Add parallel Print Page Options

And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. And they set the altar [a]upon its base; for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the countries: and they offered burnt-offerings thereon unto Jehovah, even burnt-offerings morning and evening. And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt-offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required; and afterward the continual burnt-offering, and the offerings of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of Jehovah that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill-offering unto Jehovah. From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt-offerings unto Jehovah: but the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not yet laid. They gave money also unto the [b]masons, and to the carpenters; and food, and drink, and oil, unto them of Sidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar-trees from Lebanon to the sea, unto Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.

Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to [c]have the oversight of the work of the house of Jehovah. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of [d]Judah, [e]together, to have the oversight of the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, [f]they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Jehovah, after the order of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang one to another in praising and giving thanks unto Jehovah, saying, For he is good, for his lovingkindness endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Jehovah, because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, the old men that had seen [g]the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: 13 so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 3:3 Or, in its place
  2. Ezra 3:7 Or, hewers
  3. Ezra 3:8 Or, set forward the work
  4. Ezra 3:9 In 2:40, Hodaviah.
  5. Ezra 3:9 Hebrew as one.
  6. Ezra 3:10 According to some manuscripts, the priests stood.
  7. Ezra 3:12 Or, the first house standing on its foundation, when this house was before their eyes

Rebuilding the Altar

When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,(A) the people assembled(B) together as one in Jerusalem. Then Joshua(C) son of Jozadak(D) and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel(E) and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses(F) the man of God. Despite their fear(G) of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.(H) Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles(I) with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon(J) sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the Lord,(K) as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the Lord. On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid.

Rebuilding the Temple

Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters,(L) and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs(M) by sea from Lebanon(N) to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus(O) king of Persia.

In the second month(P) of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel(Q) son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty(R) years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. Joshua(S) and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah[a]) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

10 When the builders laid(T) the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets,(U) and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise(V) the Lord, as prescribed by David(W) king of Israel.(X) 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

“He is good;
    his love toward Israel endures forever.”(Y)

And all the people gave a great shout(Z) of praise to the Lord, because the foundation(AA) of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple,(AB) wept(AC) aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy(AD) from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 3:9 Hebrew Yehudah, a variant of Hodaviah