以斯拉記 3
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
重建祭壇
3 到了七月，以色列人已安居各城，他們萬眾一心地聚集在耶路撒冷。 2 約薩達的兒子耶書亞及其他祭司、撒拉鐵的兒子所羅巴伯及其親屬，一起重新築造以色列上帝的祭壇，為要照上帝的僕人摩西在律法書上的記載在壇上獻燔祭。 3 他們雖然懼怕當地的居民，還是在原來的根基上重建祭壇，並早晚在上面向耶和華獻燔祭。 4 他們照律法書的記載守住棚節，每天按規定的數目獻上燔祭。 5 之後，他們獻上日常的燔祭，並在朔日[a]和耶和華所定的一切節期獻祭，又向耶和華獻上自願獻的祭。 6 儘管耶和華殿的根基還沒有立好，從七月一日起，他們就開始向耶和華獻燔祭。 7 他們付給石匠和木匠銀子，並經波斯王塞魯士批准，供給泰爾人和西頓人食物、酒和油，換取他們把香柏木從黎巴嫩經海路運到約帕。
開始重建聖殿
8 在回到耶路撒冷上帝殿的第二年二月，撒拉鐵的兒子所羅巴伯、約薩達的兒子耶書亞及其祭司和利未親族，以及所有從流亡之地回到耶路撒冷的人，開始重建耶和華的殿，並派二十歲以上的利未人做督工。 9 何達威雅[b]的後裔，即耶書亞及其子孫和弟兄、甲篾及其子孫，與利未人希拿達的子孫及其弟兄同心協力地監督在上帝殿裡做工的人。
10 工人立耶和華殿的根基時，祭司身穿禮服拿著號角，利未人亞薩的子孫拿著鈸各就各位，照以色列王大衛所定的規矩讚美耶和華。 11 他們彼此唱和，讚美、稱謝耶和華，說：
「祂是美善的，
因為祂向以色列人永施慈愛！」
所有人都高聲歡呼讚美耶和華，因為耶和華殿的根基已經立好。 12 許多曾見過舊殿的年長的祭司、利未人和族長看見這殿的根基，不禁放聲大哭，也有很多人高聲歡呼。 13 人們無法分辨是痛哭聲還是歡呼聲，因為眾人都大聲呼喊，聲音傳到遠處。
Ezra 3
Good News Translation
Worship Begins Again
3 By the seventh month the people of Israel were all settled in their towns. Then they all assembled in Jerusalem, 2 (A)and Joshua son of Jehozadak, his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, together with his relatives, rebuilt the altar of the God of Israel, so that they could burn sacrifices on it according to the instructions written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. 3 (B)Even though[a] the returning exiles were afraid of the people who were living in the land, they rebuilt the altar where it had stood before. Then they began once again to burn on it the regular morning and evening sacrifices. 4 (C)They celebrated the Festival of Shelters according to the regulations; each day they offered the sacrifices required for that day; 5 (D)and in addition they offered the regular sacrifices to be burned whole and those to be offered at the New Moon Festival and at all the other regular assemblies at which the Lord is worshiped, as well as all the offerings that were given to the Lord voluntarily. 6 Although the people had not yet started to rebuild the Temple, they began on the first day of the seventh month to burn sacrifices to the Lord.
The Rebuilding of the Temple Begins
7 The people gave money to pay the stonemasons and the carpenters and gave food, drink, and olive oil to be sent to the cities of Tyre and Sidon in exchange for cedar trees from Lebanon, which were to be brought by sea to Joppa. All this was done with the permission of Emperor Cyrus of Persia. 8 So in the second month of the year after they came back to the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, they began work. Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the rest of their people, the priests, and the Levites, in fact all the exiles who had come back to Jerusalem, joined in the work. All the Levites twenty years of age or older were put in charge of the work of rebuilding the Temple. 9 The Levite Jeshua and his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons (the clan of Hodaviah[b]) joined together in taking charge of the rebuilding of the Temple. (They were helped by the Levites of the clan of Henadad.)
10 (E)When the builders started to lay the foundation of the Temple, the priests in their robes took their places with trumpets in their hands, and the Levites of the clan of Asaph stood there with cymbals. They praised the Lord according to the instructions handed down from the time of King David. 11 (F)They sang the Lord's praises, repeating the refrain:
“The Lord is good, and his love for Israel is eternal.” Everyone shouted with all their might, praising the Lord, because the work on the foundation of the Temple had been started. 12 (G)Many of the older priests, Levites, and heads of clans had seen the first Temple, and as they watched the foundation of this Temple being laid, they cried and wailed. But the others who were there shouted for joy.
13 No one could distinguish between the joyful shouts and the crying, because the noise they made was so loud that it could be heard for miles.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
