Ezra 3
1 And the seventh month cometh, and the sons of Israel [are] in the cities, and the people are gathered, as one men, unto 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 And rise doth Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and they build the altar of the God of Israel, to cause to ascend upon it 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 establish the altar on its bases, because of the fear upon them of the peoples of the lands, and he causeth burnt-offerings to ascend upon it to Jehovah, burnt-offerings for the morning and for the 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 make the feast of the booths as it is written, and the burnt-offering of the day daily in number according to the ordinance, the matter of a day in its day;
They observed the Festival of Shelters as the Law required, sacrificing the specified number of burnt offerings each day.
5 and after this a continual burnt-offering, and for new moons, and for all appointed seasons of Jehovah that are sanctified; and for every one who is willingly offering a willing-offering to Jehovah.
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 they have begun to cause burnt-offerings to ascend to Jehovah, and the temple of Jehovah hath not been founded,
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 give money to hewers and to artificers, and food, and drink, and oil to Zidonians and to Tyrians, to bring in cedar-trees from Lebanon unto the sea of Joppa, according to the permission of Cyrus king of Persia concerning 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 in unto the house of God, to Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those coming from the captivity to Jerusalem, and they appoint the Levites from a son of twenty years and upward, to overlook the work of the house of Jehovah.
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 Jeshua standeth, [and] his sons, and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, sons of Judah together, to overlook those doing the work in the house of God; the sons of Henadad, [and] 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 those building have founded the temple of Jehovah, and they appoint the priests, clothed, with trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Jehovah, by means of [the instruments 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 respond in praising and in giving thanks to Jehovah, for good, for to the age His kindness [is] over Israel, and all the people have shouted — a great shout — in giving praise to Jehovah, because the house of Jehovah hath been founded.
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 And many of the priests, and the Levites, and the heads of the fathers, the aged men who had seen the first house — in this house being founded before their eyes — are weeping with a loud voice, and many with a shout, in joy, lifting up the 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 and the people are not discerning the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people are shouting — a great shout — and the noise hath been heard unto a distance.
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.
