Rebuilding the altar

When the seventh month came and the Israelites were in their towns, the people gathered together as one in Jerusalem.

and who has demonstrated his graciousness for me before the king and his counselors and all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage because the Lord my God’s power was with me. I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

Voyage to Jerusalem

I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped for three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found no Levites there.

Then all those who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me on account of the transgression of the returned exiles while I remained sitting in shock until the evening sacrifice.

The community responds

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and bowing down before God’s house, a very large crowd of men, women, and children of Israel gathered around him. The people also wept in distress.

An order was then circulated throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the returned exiles should gather in Jerusalem.

So within three days, all the people of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month. All of the people sat in the area in front of God’s house, trembling because of this order and because of the heavy rain.