Ezra 3
New American Standard Bible
Altar and Sacrifices Restored
3 Now when the seventh month came, and (A)the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one person to Jerusalem. 2 Then (B)Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and (C)Zerubbabel the son (D)of Shealtiel and his brothers, rose up and (E)built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, (F)as it is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. 3 So they set up the altar on its foundation, because [a](G)they were terrified of the peoples of the lands; and they (H)offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 They also celebrated the (I)Feast of [b]Booths, (J)as it is written, and offered [c]the prescribed number of burnt offerings daily, (K)according to the ordinance, [d]as each day required; 5 and afterward there was a (L)continual burnt offering, also (M)for the new moons and (N)for all the appointed festivals of the Lord that were consecrated, and from everyone who offered a [e]voluntary offering to the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid. 7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and (O)food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians (P)to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at (Q)Joppa, according to the permission they had [f]from (R)Cyrus king of Persia.
Temple Restoration Begun
8 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, (S)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and (T)appointed the Levites who were twenty years old and upward to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. 9 Then (U)Jeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of [g]Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the temple of God.
10 Now when the builders had (V)laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, [h]the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord (W)according to the [i]directions of King David of Israel. 11 And (X)they sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “(Y)For He is good, for His favor is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout of joy when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, (Z)the old men who had seen the first [j]temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, because the people were shouting with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.
Footnotes
- Ezra 3:3 Lit terror was upon them from
- Ezra 3:4 Or Tabernacles
- Ezra 3:4 Lit by number
- Ezra 3:4 Lit a day’s word on its day
- Ezra 3:5 Or freewill offering
- Ezra 3:7 Lit of
- Ezra 3:9 In Ezra 2:40, Hodaviah; in Neh 7:43, Hodevah
- Ezra 3:10 As in LXX and some mss; MT they set the priests
- Ezra 3:10 Lit hands
- Ezra 3:12 Lit house
Ezra 3
New Living Translation
The Altar Is Rebuilt
3 In early autumn,[a] when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak[b] joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. 3 Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord each morning and evening.
4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival. 5 They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the annual festivals as prescribed by the Lord. The people also gave voluntary offerings to the Lord. 6 Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began,[c] the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord. This was even before they had started to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple.
The People Begin to Rebuild the Temple
7 Then the people hired masons and carpenters and bought cedar logs from the people of Tyre and Sidon, paying them with food, wine, and olive oil. The logs were brought down from the Lebanon mountains and floated along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea[d] to Joppa, for King Cyrus had given permission for this.
8 The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring,[e] during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem. The work force was made up of everyone who had returned from exile, including Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his fellow priests, and all the Levites. The Levites who were twenty years old or older were put in charge of rebuilding the Lord’s Temple. 9 The workers at the Temple of God were supervised by Jeshua with his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons, all descendants of Hodaviah.[f] They were helped in this task by the Levites of the family of Henadad.
10 When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord, just as King David had prescribed. 11 With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord:
“He is so good!
His faithful love for Israel endures forever!”
Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid.
12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. 13 The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.
Footnotes
- 3:1 Hebrew In the seventh month. The year is not specified, so it may have been during Cyrus’s first year (538 B.c.) or second year (537 B.c.). The seventh month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred within the months of September/October 538 B.c. and October/November 537 B.c.
- 3:2 Hebrew Jozadak, a variant spelling of Jehozadak; also in 3:8.
- 3:6 Hebrew On the first day of the seventh month. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in September or October. The Festival of Shelters began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.
- 3:7 Hebrew the sea.
- 3:8 Hebrew in the second month. This month in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred within the months of April and May 536 B.c.
- 3:9 Hebrew sons of Judah (i.e., bene Yehudah). Bene might also be read here as the proper name Binnui; Yehudah is probably another name for Hodaviah. Compare 2:40; Neh 7:43; 1 Esdras 5:58.
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