Ezra 3

Weeping and Shouting Mingled at the Foundation

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Sacrifice Resumes Before the House Is Founded

3:1The seventh month arrived—the sons of Israel being in their cities—and the people gathered as one man in Jerusalem.

3:2Iesous son of Iosedek and his brothers the priests, and Zorobabel son of Salathiel and his brothers, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer whole burnt offerings upon it according to what is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

3:3They prepared the altar on its prepared place, for terror from the peoples of the lands was upon them. A whole burnt offering went up upon it to the Lord, in the morning and toward evening.

3:4They kept the Festival of Booths according to what was written, with whole burnt offerings day by day in the number required by the ordinance, each day’s due on its own day,

3:5and afterward continual whole burnt offerings, those for the new moons and all the consecrated festivals, and for everyone freely presenting a freewill offering to the Lord.

3:6On day one of the seventh month they began offering whole burnt offerings to the Lord, though the Lord’s house had not been founded.

3:7They gave silver to the stonecutters and craftsmen, and food, drink and oil to the Sedanin and Sorin, to bring cedar timber from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, according to the concession of Cyrus king of the Persians to them.

Foundation, Praise and Weeping

3:8In the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, Zorobabel son of Salathiel, Iesous son of Iosedek, the rest of their brothers the priests and Levites, and all who had come from captivity to Jerusalem began. They set the Levites from twenty years old and upward over those doing the work in the Lord’s house.

3:9Iesous and his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, sons of Judah, stood over those doing the work in the house of God; also the sons of Enadad, their sons and their brothers the Levites.

3:10They laid the foundation for building the Lord’s house, and the priests stood in their vestments with trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord according to the directions of David king of Israel.

3:11They answered in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: “For it is good, for His mercy toward Israel endures forever.” All the people sounded a great cry of praise to the Lord at the founding of the Lord’s house.

3:12Many of the priests and Levites and leaders of the families—the elders who had seen the first house at its founding, and this house before their eyes—wept with a loud voice. A crowd sounded out with joy to raise a song.

3:13The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful signal from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people cried out with a loud voice, and the sound was heard far away.

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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.