Ezr 3 | NASB2020 | STEP | Now when the seventh month came , and the sons of Israel were in the cities , the people gathered together as one person to Jerusalem .

Ezra 3

Altar and Sacrifices Restored

1 Now when the seventh month came, and ^athe sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one person to Jerusalem. 2 Then ^bJeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and ^cZerubbabel the son ^dof Shealtiel and his brothers, rose up and ^ebuilt the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, ^fas it is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. 3 So they set up the altar on its foundation, because ^{▼▼Lit terror was upon them from
,} ^hthey were terrified of the peoples of the lands; and they ⁱoffered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 They also celebrated the ^jFeast of ^{▼▼Or Tabernacles}Booths, ^las it is written, and offered ^{▼▼Lit by number}the prescribed number of burnt offerings daily, ⁿaccording to the ordinance, ^{▼▼Lit a day’s word on its day}as each day required; 5 and afterward there was a ^pcontinual burnt offering, also ^qfor the new moons and ^rfor all the appointed festivals of the Lord that were consecrated, and from everyone who offered a ^{▼▼Or freewill offering}voluntary offering to the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid. 7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and ^tfood, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians ^uto bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at ^vJoppa, according to the permission they had ^{▼▼Lit of}from ^xCyrus king of Persia.

Temple Restoration Begun

8 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, ^yZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and ^zappointed the Levites who were twenty years old and upward to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. 9 Then ^aaJeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of ^{▼▼In Ezra 2:40, Hodaviah; in Neh 7:43, Hodevah}Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the temple of God.

10 Now when the builders had ^aclaid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, ^{▼▼As in LXX and some mss; MT they set the priests}the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord ^aeaccording to the ^{▼▼Lit hands}directions of King David of Israel. 11 And ^agthey sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “ ^ahFor He is good, for His favor is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout of joy when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, ^aithe old men who had seen the first ^{▼▼Lit house}temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, because the people were shouting with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.