Ezra 3:6
What does Ezra 3:6 mean?
A plain-English look at Ezra 3:6 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Ezra 3:6 means
From the very first day of the seventh month, they began offering burnt offerings, even though the temple’s foundation was still unlaid. This contrast teaches that God’s people do not wait for perfect conditions to seek Him. The altar and obedience to His Word were enough to begin. God’s presence is not confined to elaborate buildings; He meets a people who call on Him as He has appointed. Their early start shows resolve and hunger for restoration. The temple would come in time, but worship could not be postponed. In the wider biblical arc, such truth prepares the way for the New Testament’s witness that God’s dwelling is ultimately with His people, centered in Christ.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000From 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.
KJV
King James Version · 1611From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901From 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.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949From the first day of the seventh month they made a start with the burned offerings, but the base of the Temple of the Lord had still not been put in its place.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862From 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,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer holocausts to the Lord: but the temple of God was not yet founded.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer up burnt-offerings to Jehovah. But the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not [yet] laid.
Context
After listing the restored sacrifices (vv. 4–5), verse 6 timestamps the start and underscores that this worship preceded the temple construction. This sets up the narrative transition to practical preparations for building (v. 7) and then to organizing the workforce and laying the foundation (vv. 8–10). The writer wants readers to see that while the temple is significant, obedience and worship took precedence.
v.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.
v.6This passage
v.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.