Rebuilding the Altar
1
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,
the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.
2
Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shelatiel
and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice
the burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses
the man of God.
3
Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation
and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening
sacrifices.
4
Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles
with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day.
5
After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices
and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD,
as well as freewill offerings to the LORD.
6
On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings
to the LORD, though the foundation of the LORD's temple had not yet been laid.
Rebuilding theTemple
7
Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink
and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs
by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
8
In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God
in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak and the rest of
their brothers (the priests and the Levites and all who had retuened from
the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work, appointing Levites tweny years of age
and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD.
9
Jeshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of
Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers - all Levites -
joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.
10
When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD,
the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph)
with cymbals, took theur places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king
of Israel.
11
With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD:
"He is good; his love to Israel endures forever."
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD,
because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
12
Butmany of the older priests and Levites and family heads,
who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation
of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.
13
No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy
from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise.
And the sound was heard far away.
