Ezra 3
3 1And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel
were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to
Jerusalem.
2Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the
priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded
the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings thereon, as it is
written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3And they set the altar upon
its base; for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the countries: and
they offered burnt-offerings thereon unto Jehovah, even burnt-offerings
morning and evening.
4And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is
written, and offered the daily burnt-offerings by number, according
to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required;
5and afterward the
continual burnt-offering, and the offerings of the new moons, and of
all the set feasts of Jehovah that were consecrated, and of every one that
willingly offered a freewill-offering unto Jehovah.
6From the first day
of the seventh month began they to offer burnt-offerings unto Jehovah: but
the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not yet laid.
7They gave
money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and food, and drink, and
oil, unto them of Sidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar-trees from
Lebanon to the sea, unto Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus
king of Persia.
8Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of
God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel,
and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and
the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem,
and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the
oversight of the work of the house of Jehovah.
9Then stood Jeshua with
his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together,
to have the oversight of the workmen in the house of God: the sons of
Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
10And when the
builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests
in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with
cymbals, to praise Jehovah, after the order of David king of Israel.
11And they sang one to another in praising and giving thanks unto
Jehovah, saying, For he is good, for his lovingkindness
endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a
great shout, when they praised Jehovah, because the foundation of the house
of Jehovah was laid.
12But many of the priests and Levites and heads of
fathers' houses, the old men that had seen the first house, when the
foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice;
and many shouted aloud for joy:
13so that the people could not discern
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 afar
off.