Ezra 3

Chapter 3

The Altar Is Rebuilt

1 In early autumn,t when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose.2 Then Jeshua son of Jehozadakt 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,t 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 Seat to Joppa, for King Cyrus had given permission for this.
8 The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring,t 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.t 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.

EZRA 3

The First Offering //on the New Altar

1 During the seventh montht of the year, the Israelites who had settled in their towns went to Jerusalem. 2 t The priest Joshua son of Jozadak, together with the other priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his relatives rebuilt the altar of Israel's God. Then they were able to offer sacrifices there by following the instructions God had given to Moses, the man of God.

3 t And they built the altar where it had stood before, t even though they were afraid of the people who were already living around there. Then every morning and evening they burned sacrifices and offerings to the [Lord].
4  t The people followed the rules for celebrating the Festival of Shelters and offered the proper sacrifices each day.

5 t They offered sacrifices to please the [Lord], t sacrifices at each New Moon Festival, and sacrifices at the rest of the [Lord]'s festivals. Every offering the people had brought voluntarily was also presented to the [Lord].

6 Although work on the temple itself had not yet begun, the people started offering sacrifices on the [Lord]'s altar on the first day of the seventh month of that year.

The Rebuilding //of the Temple Begins

7 King Cyrus of Persia had said the Israelites could have cedar trees brought from Lebanon to Joppa by sea. So they sent grain, wine, and olive oil to the cities of Tyre and Sidon as payment for these trees, and they gave money to the stoneworkers and carpenters.
8 During the second montht of the second year after the people had returned from Babylonia, they started rebuilding the [Lord]'s temple. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the priests, the Levites, and everyone else who had returned started working. Every Levite over 20 years of age was put in charge of some part of the work.

9 The Levites in charge of the whole project were Joshua and his sons and relatives and Kadmiel and his sons from the family of Hodaviah.t The family of Henadad worked along with them.
10  t When the builders had finished laying the foundation of the temple, the priests put on their robes and blew trumpets in honor of the [Lord], while the Levites from the family of Asaph praised God with cymbals. All of them followed the instructions given years before by King David.t

11 t They praised the [Lord] and gave thanks as they took turns singing:
“The [Lord] is good!
His faithful love for Israel
will last forever.”
Everyone started shouting and praising the [Lord] because work on the foundation of the temple had begun. 12 t Many of the older priests and Levites and the heads of families wept bitterly because they remembered seeing the first temple years before. But others were so happy that they celebrated with joyful shouts. 13 Their shouting and crying were so noisy that it all sounded alike and could be heard a long way off.