Ezra 3
Open in the reader1By the seventh month, the children of Strives-with-God had settled in their towns, and the people assembled as one man in Foundation-of-Peace.
2Then He-Who-Is-Saves son of He-Who-Is-Righteous and his fellow priests, along with Sown-in-Confusion son of I-Have-Asked-of-God and his associates, began to build the altar of the God of Strives-with-God to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Teaching of Drawn-Out the man of God.
3They set up the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to He-Who-Is—both the morning and evening burnt offerings—even though they feared the people of the land.
4They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day.
5After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings and those for New Moons and for all the appointed sacred feasts of He-Who-Is, as well as all the freewill offerings brought to He-Who-Is.
6On the first day of the seventh month, the Israelites began to offer burnt offerings to He-Who-Is, although the foundation of the temple of He-Who-Is had not been laid.
7They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and The-Rock to bring cedar logs from White-Mountain to Fair by Sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
8In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Foundation-of-Peace, Sown-in-Confusion son of I-Have-Asked-of-God, He-Who-Is-Saves son of He-Who-Is-Righteous, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Joined-Ones, and all who had returned to Foundation-of-Peace from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Joined-Ones twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of He-Who-Is.
9So He-Who-Is-Saves and his sons and brothers, God-Is-Before-Me and his sons (descendants of Yehudah), and the sons of Favor-of-Hadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together to supervise those working on the house of House.
10When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of He-Who-Is, the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Joined-Ones (the sons of Gatherer) with cymbals, took their positions to praise He-Who-Is, as Beloved king of Strives-with-God had prescribed.
11And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to He-Who-Is: “For He is good; for His loving devotion to Strives-with-God endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to He-Who-Is, because the foundation of the house of He-Who-Is had been laid.
12But many of the older priests, Joined-Ones, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully.
13The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people were making so much noise. And the sound was heard from afar.