Ezra 3:1-4:6
New American Standard Bible
Altar and Sacrifices Restored
3 Now when the seventh month came, and (A)the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one person to Jerusalem. 2 Then (B)Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and (C)Zerubbabel the son (D)of Shealtiel and his brothers, rose up and (E)built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, (F)as it is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. 3 So they set up the altar on its foundation, because [a](G)they were terrified of the peoples of the lands; and they (H)offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 They also celebrated the (I)Feast of [b]Booths, (J)as it is written, and offered [c]the prescribed number of burnt offerings daily, (K)according to the ordinance, [d]as each day required; 5 and afterward there was a (L)continual burnt offering, also (M)for the new moons and (N)for all the appointed festivals of the Lord that were consecrated, and from everyone who offered a [e]voluntary offering to the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid. 7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and (O)food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians (P)to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at (Q)Joppa, according to the permission they had [f]from (R)Cyrus king of Persia.
Temple Restoration Begun
8 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, (S)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and (T)appointed the Levites who were twenty years old and upward to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. 9 Then (U)Jeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of [g]Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the temple of God.
10 Now when the builders had (V)laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, [h]the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord (W)according to the [i]directions of King David of Israel. 11 And (X)they sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “(Y)For He is good, for His favor is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout of joy when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, (Z)the old men who had seen the first [j]temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, because the people were shouting with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.
Enemies Hinder the Work
4 Now when (AA)the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that (AB)the people of the exile were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for like you, we seek your God; (AC)and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of (AD)Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” 3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “(AE)You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build for the Lord God of Israel, (AF)just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”
4 Then (AG)the people of the land [k]discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, 5 and bribed advisers against them to frustrate their advice all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6 Now in the reign of [l](AH)Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- Ezra 3:3 Lit terror was upon them from
- Ezra 3:4 Or Tabernacles
- Ezra 3:4 Lit by number
- Ezra 3:4 Lit a day’s word on its day
- Ezra 3:5 Or freewill offering
- Ezra 3:7 Lit of
- Ezra 3:9 In Ezra 2:40, Hodaviah; in Neh 7:43, Hodevah
- Ezra 3:10 As in LXX and some mss; MT they set the priests
- Ezra 3:10 Lit hands
- Ezra 3:12 Lit house
- Ezra 4:4 Lit slackened the hands of
- Ezra 4:6 Or Xerxes; Heb Ahash-verosh
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