Ezra 3:5-13

5 and after that the regular burnt 1offerings, the offerings at the new moon 2and at all the appointed feasts of the LORD, and the offerings of everyone who made 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 So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, 3and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians 4to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, 5according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Rebuilding the Temple

8 Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, 6Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and 7Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They 8appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to 9supervise the work of the house of the LORD.
9 And 10Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together 11supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the 12sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.
10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, 13according to the directions of David king of Israel.
11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, 14"For he is good, for his steadfast love 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 heads of fathers' houses, 15old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy,
13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Ezra 3:5-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZRA 3

This chapter relates how that the people of Israel returned from captivity, gathered to Jerusalem, and set up the altar, where sacrifices were offered, Ezr 3:1-3, and kept the feast of tabernacles, and offered the sacrifices of that, besides the daily sacrifice, and of other festivals; and contributed to the workmen that prepared for the building of the temple, Ezr 3:4-7 and began it by laying the foundation of it; which to some was matter of joy, to others of grief, on different accounts, Ezr 3:8-13.

Cross References 15

  • 1. See Numbers 28:11-15
  • 2. Numbers 29:39
  • 3. 1 Kings 5:6, 9; 2 Chronicles 2:10
  • 4. 2 Chronicles 2:16
  • 5. Ezra 1:3, 4; Ezra 6:3
  • 6. Ezra 2:2; Ezra 4:3
  • 7. Ezra 2:2; Ezra 4:3
  • 8. 1 Chronicles 23:24
  • 9. 1 Chronicles 23:4
  • 10. [See ver. 8 above]
  • 11. [See ver. 8 above]
  • 12. Nehemiah 10:9, 10
  • 13. 1 Chronicles 6:31; 1 Chronicles 16:4-6; 1 Chronicles 25:1, 2
  • 14. See 1 Chronicles 16:34, 41
  • 15. Haggai 2:3
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.