Ezra 3

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

By the seventh month, the Israelites had gathered as one man in Jerusalem, where Jeshua, Zerubbabel, and their associates rebuilt the altar of the God of Israel to offer daily burnt offerings according to the Law of Moses. They celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles and provided funds and provisions to Sidonians and Tyrians to transport cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, following the authorization of Cyrus king of Persia. In the second month of the second year after arriving in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel and Jeshua initiated the rebuilding of the temple, appointing Levites aged twenty and older to supervise the work. When the builders laid the foundation of the Lord's temple, priests with trumpets and Levites with cymbals praised the Lord with responsive song and thanksgiving. While many people shouted joyfully, many older individuals who had seen the first temple wept loudly, creating a great noise that could be heard from afar.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. ²Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests, along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates, began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. ³They set up the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD—both the morning and evening burnt offerings—even though they feared the people of the land. ⁴They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day. ⁵After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings and those for New Moons and for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as all the freewill offerings brought to the LORD. ⁶On the first day of the seventh month, the Israelites began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, although the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid. ⁷They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia. ⁸In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of the LORD. ⁹So Jeshua and his sons and brothers, Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Yehudah), and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together to supervise those working on the house of God. ¹⁰When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their positions to praise the LORD, as David king of Israel had prescribed. ¹¹And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD: “For He is good; for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid. ¹²But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully. ¹³The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people were making so much noise. And the sound was heard from afar.

Test this chapter

Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.