Ezra 3

1. Now when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves as one man to Jerusalem.

2. And Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren. And they built the altar of the God of Israel in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

3. And they set the altar on its bases, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries. And they offered burnt offerings upon it unto the LORD, burnt offerings both morning and evening.

4. And 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.

5. And afterward they offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons and of all the appointed feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of everyone who willingly offered a freewill 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 was not yet laid.

7. They gave money also to the masons and to the carpenters. And they gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and to the people of Tyre to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea and on to Joppa, according to the grant which they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

8. And in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, 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 who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to oversee the work of the house of the LORD.

9. Then Jeshua stood up together with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, to oversee the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.

10. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their robes with silver trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel.

11. And they sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, “Because He is good, for His steadfast lovemercy endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

12. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers—ancient men who 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,

13. So that the people could not tell 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.