Ezra 3
1 And when the seventh month drew near, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to 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 arose Jeshua' the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealthiel, and his brethren, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer thereon burnt-offerings, as it is 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 erected the altar upon its foundations; for there was fear upon them because of the people of these countries; and they offered thereon burnt-offerings unto the Lord, burnt-offerings at morning and at 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 celebrated the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and [offered] the daily burnt-offerings by number, according to the prescribed manner, the offering of every day on its day;
They observed the Festival of Shelters as the Law required, sacrificing the specified number of burnt offerings each day.
5 And afterward the continual burnt-offering, and that for the new moons, and for all the feasts of the Lord that are hallowed, and that of every one who willingly offered a free-will offering unto 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 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord: although the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not yet been 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 Then did they give money unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and food, and drink, and oil, unto the Zidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar-trees from the Lebanon by sea to Joppa, according to the permission of Cyrus the king of Persia for 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 unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, did Zerubbabel the son of Shealthiel and Jeshua' the son of Jozadak, and the remainder of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem make a beginning; and they appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to superintend the work of 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 Then stood forward Jeshua' with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, as one man, to superintend the workmen in the house of God; [also] the sons of Chenadad, 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 when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they placed the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Assaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the manner of David the 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 sang responsively in praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord; because he is good, for unto everlasting endureth his kindness toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, while praising the Lord; because the foundation of the house of the Lord had been laid.
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 Levites and chiefs of the divisions, the aged, who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice, while many, shouting for joy, raised aloud their voice:
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 So that the people could not distinguish the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard ever so far 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.
