Ezra 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.

1By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and they all gathered together in Jerusalem with a single purpose.

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.

2Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests, along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his family, began to build the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to offer burnt sacrifices on it, just as the Law of Moses the man of God instructs.

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.

3Even though they were afraid of the local people in the surrounding lands, they rebuilt the altar on its original foundation. They began sacrificing burnt offerings to Jehovah every 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;

4They celebrated the Festival of Shelters, following the written rules. Each day they offered the specific number of burnt sacrifices required for that day.

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.

5After that, they offered the regular daily burnt sacrifices, the special sacrifices for the New Moon festivals, and those for all the other sacred festivals commanded by Jehovah. They also brought volunteer offerings that anyone chose to give to 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.

6On the first day of the seventh month, they began offering burnt sacrifices to Jehovah, even though the foundation of Jehovah's temple had not yet been 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.

7Then they hired masons and carpenters. They also paid the people of Sidon and Tyre with food, drink, and olive oil to bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa. This was done with the permission 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.

8In the second month of the second year after they arrived at the site of God's house in Jerusalem, the work began. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, their fellow priests and Levites, and everyone who had returned from captivity joined in. They appointed Levites who were twenty years old and older to supervise the construction 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.

9Jeshua and his sons and brothers, along with Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah), worked together to oversee the workers in the house of God. They were joined by the family of Henadad and their sons and fellow 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.

10When the builders finished laying the foundation of Jehovah's temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places with trumpets. The Levites, who were descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise Jehovah, following the instructions left by King David 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.

11They sang back and forth, praising and thanking Jehovah, saying, 'He is good; his faithful love for Israel lasts forever.' Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to Jehovah because the foundation of Jehovah's house had been 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:

12But many of the older priests, Levites, and family leaders who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this new temple. At the same time, many others shouted 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.

13The sound of the happy shouts could not be distinguished from the sound of the weeping. The noise was so loud that it could be heard from far away.