Ezra 3:11

11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: “He is good; his love toward 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.

Ezra 3:11 in Other Translations

11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever 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.

11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, "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.

11 With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the LORD : “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the LORD because the foundation of the LORD ’s Temple had been laid.

11 They sang antiphonally praise and thanksgiving to God: Yes! God is good! Oh yes - he'll never quit loving Israel!

11 They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: "For He is good; His faithful love to Israel endures forever." Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord's house had been laid.

Ezra 3:11 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 3:11

And they sang together by course
They sang by turns in responses, and answered one another, as the word signifies; when one company had performed their part, another took theirs:

in praising and giving thanks to the Lord;
for returning them to their own land, and giving them opportunity, ability, and will, to set about the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord, and restoring the pure worship of God;

because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel;
which words are often repeated in ( Psalms 136:1-26 ) and which might be the psalm the Levites now sung by responses:

and all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the
Lord;
to express their joy, in the best manner they could, on this solemn occasion:

because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid;
which gave them hope the temple in due time would be rebuilt, and the service of it restored; see ( Job 38:6 Job 38:7 ) .

Ezra 3:11 In-Context

9 Joshua 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 their 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 toward 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 But many 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.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Chronicles 16:34,41; S 2 Chronicles 7:3; Psalms 30:5; Psalms 107:1; Psalms 118:1; Psalms 138:8
• 2. S Joshua 6:5,10; Nehemiah 12:24
• 3. Haggai 2:18; Zechariah 4:9; Zechariah 8:9