^3:1When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites¹ were living² in their³ towns, the people assembled⁴ in⁵ Jerusalem.⁶^3:2Then 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. ^3:3They 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. ^3:4They observed the Festival of Temporary Shelters¹³ as required¹⁴ and offered the proper number of¹⁵ daily burnt offerings according to the requirement for each day. ^3:5Afterward they offered the continual burnt offerings and those for the new moons and those for all the holy assemblies of the Lord and all those that were being voluntarily offered to the Lord. ^3:6From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. However, the Lord’s temple was not at that time established.¹⁶

Preparations for Rebuilding the Temple

^3:7So they provided money¹⁷ for the masons and carpenters, and food, beverages, and olive oil for the people of Sidon¹⁸ and Tyre,¹⁹ so that they would bring cedar timber from Lebanon to the seaport²⁰ at Joppa, in accord with the edict of King Cyrus of Persia. ^3:8In the second year after they had come to the temple of God in Jerusalem,²¹ in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak initiated the work,²² along with the rest of their associates,²³ the priests and the Levites, and all those who were coming to Jerusalem from the exile. They appointed²⁴ the Levites who were at least twenty years old²⁵ to take charge of the work on the Lord’s temple. ^3:9So Jeshua appointed both his sons and his relatives,²⁶ Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Yehudah²⁷), to take charge of the workers in the temple of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their relatives²⁸ the Levites. ^3:10When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions,²⁹ and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by³⁰ King David of Israel.³¹^3:11With antiphonal response they sang,³² praising and glorifying the Lord:

“For he is good;

his loyal love toward Israel is forever.”

All the people gave a loud³³ shout as they praised the Lord when the temple of the Lord was established. ^3:12Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders³⁴—older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established³⁵—were weeping loudly,³⁶ and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout. ^3:13People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly³⁷ that the sound was heard a long way off.

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Footnotes

1 Heb “the sons of Israel.”
2 The word “living” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied. Some translations supply “settled” (cf. , , ).
3 The translation reads with some medieval Hebrew and ancient versions בְּעָרֵיהֶם (be’arehem, “in their towns”), rather than the reading בֶּעָרִים (be’arim, “in the towns”) found in the . Cf. Neh 7:72 [7:73 ].
4 The Hebrew text adds the phrase “like one man.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 Heb “to.”
6 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
7 Jozadak (also in 3:8) is a variant spelling of Jehozadak.
8 Heb “his brothers the priests.”
9 Heb “his brothers.”
10 Heb “arose and built.”
11 Heb “written in.” Cf. v. 4.
12 Heb “the peoples of the lands.”
13 The Hebrew phrase אֶת חַג־הַסֻּכּוֹת (’et khag-hassukot, “festival of huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. , , ) is probably better than the traditional “tabernacles” in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. The nature of the celebration during this feast as a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt suggests that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.
14 Heb “according to what is written.”
15 Heb “by number.”
16 Or “the foundation of the Lord’s temple was not yet laid.
17 Heb “silver.”
18 For location see ; ; .
19 For location see ; ; ; ; .
20 Heb “to the sea”
21 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
22 Heb “began”; the phrase “the work” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
23 Heb “their brothers.”
24 Heb “stood.”
25 Heb “from twenty years and upward.”
26 Heb “brothers.”
27 The name יְהוּדָה (Yehudah; cf. , , “Judah”) is probably a variant of Hodaviah (see Ezra 2:40; cf. , , , , ).
28 Heb “brothers.”
29 This was a long, straight, metallic instrument used for signal calls, rather than the traditional ram’s horn (both instruments are typically translated “trumpet” by English versions).
30 Heb “according to the hands of.”
31 See Ps 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1. Cf. 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; 20:21.
32 Heb “they answered.”
33 Heb “great.”
34 Heb “the heads of the fathers.”
35 The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.
36 Heb “with a great voice.”
37 Heb “a great shout.”