Ezra 3
1 And the seventh month came on, and the children of Israel [were] in their cities, and the people assembled as one man at Jerusalem.
By the time of the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people gathered together as one in Jerusalem.
2 Then stood up Jesus the [son] of Josedec, and his brethren the priests, and Zorobabel the [son] of Salathiel, and his brethren, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer upon it whole-burnt-offerings, according to the things that were written in the law of Moses the man of God.
Then Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and the priests with him, together with Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and his relatives, started to build the altar of the God of Israel in order to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed by the Law of Moses, the man of God.
3 And they set up the altar on its place, for there was a terror upon them because of the people of the lands: and the whole-burnt-offerings was offered up upon it to the Lord morning and evening.
Even though they were afraid of the local people, they set up the altar on its original foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both morning and evening burnt offerings.
4 And they kept the feast of tabernacles, according to that which was written, and [offered] whole-burnt-offerings daily in number according to the ordinance, the exact daily rate.
They observed the Festival of Shelters as the Law required, sacrificing the specified number of burnt offerings each day.
5 And after this the perpetual whole-burnt-offering, and [offering] for the season of new moon, and for all the hallowed feasts to the Lord, and for every one that offered a free-will-offering to the Lord.
After that also presented the daily burnt offerings and the new moon offerings, as well as those for all the yearly festivals of the lord and for those who brought voluntary offerings to the Lord.
6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord: but the foundation of the house of the Lord was not laid.
So from the first day of the seventh month, the Israelites began to present burnt offerings to the Lord, even though the foundation of the Lord's Temple had not been laid.
7 And they gave money to the stone-hewers and carpenters, and meat and drink, and oil, to the Sidonians, and Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Libanus to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant of Cyrus king of the Persians to them.
They paid masons and carpenters, and provided food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre for them to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as King Cyrus of Persia had authorized.
8 And in the second year of their coming to the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zorobabel the [son] of Salathiel, and Jesus the [son] of Josedec, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem, and they appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, over the workmen in the house of the Lord.
In the second month of the second year after arriving at God's Temple in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and those with them—the priests, the Levites, and everyone who had come back to Jerusalem from captivity—began the work. They put Levites twenty years and older to in charge of building the Lord's Temple.
9 And Jesus and his sons and his brethren stood, Cadmiel and his sons the sons of Juda, over them that wrought the works in the house of God: the sons of Enadad, their sons and their brethren the Levites.
Jeshua and his sons and relatives, Kadmiel and his sons, the descendants of Yehudah, the sons of Henadad and their sons and relatives, all of them Levites, supervised those working on God's Temple.
10 And they laid a foundation for building the house of the Lord: and the priests in their robes stood with trumpets and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the order of David king of Israel.
When the builders laid the foundation of the Lord's Temple, the priests dressed in their special clothes and carrying trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) carrying cymbals, all took their places to praise the Lord, following the instructions given by King David of Israel.
11 And they answered [each other] with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, [saying], For [it is] good, for his mercy to Israel [endures] for ever. And all the people shouted with a loud voice to praise the Lord at the laying the foundation of the house of the Lord.
They sang with praise and thanks to the Lord: “God is good; for his trustworthy love for Israel lasts forever.” Then everyone there gave a tremendous shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the Lord's Temple had been laid.
12 But many of the priests and the Levites, and the elder men, heads of families, who had seen the former house on its foundation, and [who saw] this house with their eyes, wept with a loud voice: but the multitude shouted with joy to raise a song.
But many of the older priests, Levites, and family leaders who remembered the first Temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this Temple, though many others shouted for joy.
13 And the people did not distinguish the voice of the glad shout from the voice of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud voice, and the voice was heard even from afar off.
However, nobody could tell the shouts of joy from the cries of weeping, because everyone was making so much noise—so much so it could be heard a long way away.
