Ezra 3:1–3

The Altar is Rebuilt

3:1 When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites1 were living2 in their3 towns, the people assembled4 in5 Jerusalem.6 3:2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak7 and his priestly colleagues8 and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues9 started to build10 the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by11 the law of Moses the man of God. 3:3 They established the altar on its foundations, even though they were in terror of the local peoples,12 and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and the evening offerings.

1	tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”
2	tn The word “living” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied. Some translations supply “settled” (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT).
3	tc The translation reads with some medieval Hebrew mss and ancient versions בְּעָרֵיהֶם (be’arehem, “in their towns”), rather than the reading בֶּעָרִים (be’arim, “in the towns”) found in the MT. Cf. Neh 7:72 HT [7:73 ET].
4	tn The Hebrew text adds the phrase “like one man.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5	tn Heb “to.”
6	map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
7	sn Jozadak (also in 3:8) is a variant spelling of Jehozadak.
8	tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”
9	tn Heb “his brothers.”
10	tn Heb “arose and built.”
11	tn Heb “written in.” Cf. v. 4.
12	tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”