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 Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Worship Restored at Jerusalem
3 When the seventh month came and the Israelites were in their[a] towns, the people gathered together as one in Jerusalem.(A) 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak with his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his kin set out to build the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as prescribed in the law of Moses the man of God.(B) 3 They set up the altar on its foundation because they were in dread of the people of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the Lord, morning and evening.(C) 4 And they kept the Festival of Booths,[b] as prescribed, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as required for each day,(D) 5 and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the sacred festivals of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill 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 was not yet laid. 7 So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from King Cyrus of Persia.(E)
Foundation Laid for the Temple
8 In the second year after their arrival at the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their people, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites from twenty years old and up to have the oversight of the work on the house of the Lord.(F) 9 And Jeshua with his sons and his kin, and Kadmiel and his sons, Binnui and Hodaviah,[c] along with the sons of Henadad, the Levites, their sons and kin, together took charge of the workers in the house of God.(G)
10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel;(H) 11 and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”
And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord had been laid.(I) 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.
Ezra 3
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
3 And now the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in their cities: and the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 And Josue the son of Josedec rose up, and his brethren the priests, and Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and his brethren, and they built the altar of the God of Israel that they might offer holocausts upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3 And they set the altar of God upon its bases, while the people of the lands round about put them in fear, and they offered upon it a holocaust to the Lord morning and evening.
4 And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the holocaust every day orderly according to the commandment, the duty of the day in its day.
5 And afterwards the continual holocaust, both on the new moons, and on all the solemnities of the Lord, that were consecrated, and on all in which a free-will offering was made to the Lord.
6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer holocausts to the Lord: but the temple of God was not yet founded.
7 And they gave money to hewers of stones and to masons: and meat and drink, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Libanus to the sea of Joppe, according to the orders which Cyrus king of the Persians had given them.
8 And in the second year of their coming to the temple of God in Jerusalem, the second month, Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue the son of Josedec, and the rest of their brethren the priests, and the Levites, and all that were come from the captivity to Jerusalem began, and they appointed Levites from twenty years old and upward, to hasten forward the work of the Lord.
9 Then Josue and his sons and his brethren, Cedmihel, and his sons, and the children of Juda, as one man, stood to hasten them that did the work in the temple of God: the sons of Henadad, and their sons, and their brethren the Levites.
10 And when the masons laid the foundations of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their ornaments with trumpets: and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise God by the hands of David king of Israel.
11 And they sung together hymns, and praise to the Lord: because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, praising the Lord, because the foundations of the temple of the Lord were laid.
12 But many of the priests and the Levites, and the chief of the fathers and the ancients that had seen the former temple; when they had the foundation of this temple before their eyes, wept with a loud voice: and many shouting for joy, lifted up their voice.
13 So that one could not distinguish the voice of the shout of joy, from the noise of the weeping of the people: for one with another the people shouted with a loud shout, and the voice was heard afar off.
Ezra 3
The Message
The Building Begun
3 1-2 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled into their towns, the people assembled together in Jerusalem. Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brother priests, along with Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and his relatives, went to work and built the Altar of the God of Israel to offer Whole-Burnt-Offerings on it as written in The Revelation of Moses the man of God.
3-5 Even though they were afraid of what their non-Israelite neighbors might do, they went ahead anyway and set up the Altar on its foundations and offered Whole-Burnt-Offerings on it morning and evening. They also celebrated the Festival of Booths as prescribed and the daily Whole-Burnt-Offerings set for each day. And they presented the regular Whole-Burnt-Offerings for Sabbaths, New Moons, and God’s Holy Festivals, as well as Freewill-Offerings for God.
6 They began offering Whole-Burnt-Offerings to God from the very first day of the seventh month, even though The Temple of God’s foundation had not yet been laid.
7 They gave money to hire masons and carpenters. They gave food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians in exchange for the cedar lumber they had brought by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, a shipment authorized by Cyrus the king of Persia.
8-9 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at The Temple of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, in company with their brother priests and Levites and everyone else who had come back to Jerusalem from captivity, got started. They appointed the Levites twenty years of age and older to direct the rebuilding of The Temple of God. Jeshua and his family joined Kadmiel, Binnui, and Hodaviah, along with the extended family of Henadad—all Levites—to direct the work crew on The Temple of God.
10-11 When the workers laid the foundation of The Temple of God, the priests in their robes stood up with trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise God in the tradition of David king of Israel. They sang antiphonally praise and thanksgiving to God:
Yes! God is good!
Oh yes—he’ll never quit loving Israel!
11-13 All the people boomed out hurrahs, praising God as the foundation of The Temple of God was laid. As many were noisily shouting with joy, many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first Temple, when they saw the foundations of this Temple laid, wept loudly for joy. People couldn’t distinguish the shouting from the weeping. The sound of their voices reverberated for miles around.
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