Ezra 3
3
The Altar Is Rebuilt
1In early autumn,#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. when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose. 2Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak#3:2 Hebrew Jozadak, a variant spelling of Jehozadak; also in 3:8. 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. 3Even 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.
4They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival. 5They 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. 6Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began,#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. 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
7Then 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#3:7 Hebrew the sea. to Joppa, for King Cyrus had given permission for this.
8The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring,#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. 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. 9The workers at the Temple of God were supervised by Jeshua with his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons, all descendants of Hodaviah.#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. They were helped in this task by the Levites of the family of Henadad.
10When 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. 11With 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.
12But 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. 13The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.
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Ezra 3: NLT
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Ezra 3
3
Rebuilding the Temple
1When the seventh month arrived and the sons of Israel were settled in the towns, the people gathered together as one man in Jerusalem.
2Then Jeshua son of Jozadak, his fellow kohanim, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel, in order to offer burnt offerings on it as written in the Torah of Moses, the man of God.
3They set up the altar on its fixed resting place despite their fear of the peoples of the lands and they offered burnt offerings on it to Adonai, both the morning and the evening sacrifices.
4They also kept the Feast of Sukkot as it is written and offered the prescribed number of daily burnt offerings according to the requirement for each day.
5After that they presented the regular burnt offerings, the new moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the sacred moadim of Adonai, as well as all the freewill offerings brought to Adonai.
6From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to Adonai, though the foundation of the Temple of Adonai had not been laid.
7So they gave money to the stone-masons and carpenters, and food, beverages, and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians to bring cedar trees by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by King Cyrus of Persia.
8In the second month of the second year after they had come to the House of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers—the kohanim, the Levites and all who returned from captivity to Jerusalem—began the work. They appointed the Levites from twenty years of age and older to supervise the work on the House of Adonai.
9Then Jeshua, his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, stood together to supervise those working in the House of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their brothers, the Levites.
10When the builders had laid the foundation of the Temple of Adonai, the kohanim, arrayed in their vestments and with clarions, and the Levites sons of Asaph with cymbals, were stationed to praise Adonai as prescribed by King David of Israel.
11With praise and thanksgiving they sang to Adonai, “For He is good; For His mercy upon Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to Adonai because the foundation of the House of Adonai had been laid.
12But many of the kohanim, Levites and patriarchal leaders, older men who had seen the former House, wept loudly at the sight of the founding of this House, while many shouted for joy.
13People could not distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of the people’s weeping. For the people were shouting so loudly that the sound was heard far away.
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