Ezra 3
1YET when the seventh month was come, the Israelites who were in their cities, even the whole people, like one man, assembled at Jerusalem.
2And Jesus the son of Josedek with his brethren the priests, and Zorobabel the son of Salathiel with his brethren, arose and rebuilt the altar of the God of Israel, that they might offer thereon whole burnt offerings according to what is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3And when they had erected the altar on its basis (it was done with a dread upon them, on account of the neighbouring people), the whole burnt offering for the morning, and also for the evening, was offered up thereon to the Lord.
4But when they had celebrated the festival of tabernacles, according to what was written, and offered the whole burnt offering day by day in number as prescribed, the set number for every day—
5after this they offered the continual burnt offerings in due course, and those for the new moons, and for all the festivals dedicated to the Lord, and for everyone who offered a free-will offering to the Lord.
6On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer whole burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the house of the Lord was not laid:
7but they had given money to the stone-cutters and carpenters, and meat and drink and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar timber from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the permission granted them by Cyrus king of the Persians.
8And in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Jesus the son of Josedek with the rest of their brethren, the priests, and the Levites, and all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem, made a beginning.
9Now they had appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upwards, over them who did the works in the house of the Lord; so there were over the workmen employed at the house of the Lord, Jesus with his sons and brethren, Kadmiel with his sons, the sons of Juda, the sons of Enadad, their sons and their brethren, the Levites.
10And while they were laying the foundations of the house of the Lord, the priests attended in their robes, with trumpets, and the Levites, the Asaphites, with cymbals, to praise the Lord in the manner prescribed by David king of Israel,
11and they raised their responsive strains, in the song of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, [entitled] For it is good: for to everlasting His mercy endureth for Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, to praise the Lord, at laying the foundation of the house of the Lord.
12But many of the priests and Levites, and the old chiefs of families, who with their eyes had seen the former house on its foundations, and now saw this, wept aloud, while the people were shouting for joy to swell the song;
13so that the people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of the people’s wailing.