Ezra 3

Sacrifice Restored

1 By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people gathered together in Jerusalem.

2 Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel's God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

3 They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples.^[a]

4 They celebrated the Festival of Booths as prescribed, and [offered] burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day.^[b]

5 After that, [they offered] the regular burnt offering^[c] and the offerings for the beginning of each month^[d][e]and for all the Lord's appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought to^[f] the Lord.

6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, even though the foundation of the Lord's temple had not [yet] been laid.

7 They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and [gave] food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they could bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, according to the authorization [given] them by King Cyrus of Persia.

Rebuilding the Temple

8 In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God's house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers, including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began [to build]. They appointed the Levites who were 20 years old or more to supervise the work on the Lord's house.

9 Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah^[g] and of Henadad, with their sons and brothers, the Levites, joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

Temple Foundation Completed

10 When the builders had laid the foundation of the Lord's temple, the priests, dressed in their robes and holding trumpets, and the Levites descended from Asaph, holding cymbals, took their positions to praise the Lord, as King David of Israel had instructed.^[h]

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

12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and family leaders, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this house, but many [others] shouted joyfully.

13 The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the^[j] weeping, because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.

Ezra 3 Commentary

Chapter 3

The altar and festivals. (1-7) The foundations of the temple laid. (8-13)

Verses 1-7 From the proceedings of the Jews on their arrival, let us learn to begin with God, and to do what we can in the worship of God, when we cannot do what we would. They could not at once have a temple, but they would not be without an altar. Fear of danger should stir us to our duty. Have we many enemies? Then it is good to have God our Friend, and to keep up communion with him. Our fears should drive us to our knees. The sacrifices for all these solemnities were a heavy expense for so poor a company; yet besides those expressly appointed, many brought free-will offerings to the Lord. And they made preparation for the building of the temple without delay: whatever God calls us to do, we may depend upon his providence to furnish us with the needful means.

Verses 8-13 There was a remarkable mixture of affections upon laying the foundation of the temple. Those that only knew the misery of having no temple at all, praised the Lord with shouts of joy. To them, even this foundation seemed great. We ought to be thankful for the beginnings of mercy, though it be not yet perfect. But those who remembered the glory of the first temple, and considered how far inferior this was likely to be, wept with a loud voice. There was reason for it, and if they bewailed the sin that was the cause of this melancholy change, they did well. Yet it was wrong to cast a damp upon the common joys. They despised the day of small things, and were unthankful for the good they enjoyed. Let not the remembrance of former afflictions drown the sense of present mercies.

Footnotes

• [a]. Ex 29:39
• [b]. Nm 29:12-38
• [c]. Ex 29:38-43; Nm 28:3
• [d]. Lit for the new moons
• [e]. Nm 28:11-15; 29:6
• [f]. Lit well as those of everyone making a freewill offering to
• [g]. Or Hodaviah; Ezr 2:40; Neh 7:43; 1 Esdras 5:58
• [h]. 1 Ch 25
• [i]. Ps 100:5; 106:1
• [j]. Lit the people

Chapter Summary

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.