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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Ezra 3 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ezra/3.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ezra/3-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > Ezra 3</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ezra/2.htm" title="Ezra 2">◄</a> Ezra 3 <a href="../ezra/4.htm" title="Ezra 4">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/ezra/3.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">The Altar Is Rebuilt</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>In early autumn,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the LORD each morning and evening.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the annual festivals as prescribed by the LORD. The people also gave voluntary offerings to the LORD. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a> the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the LORD. This was even before they had started to lay the foundation of the LORD’s Temple.</p><p class="hdg">The People Begin to Rebuild the Temple</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Then the people hired masons and carpenters and bought cedar logs from the people of Tyre and Sidon, paying them with food, wine, and olive oil. The logs were brought down from the Lebanon mountains and floated along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> to Joppa, for King Cyrus had given permission for this.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a> during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem. The work force was made up of everyone who had returned from exile, including Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his fellow priests, and all the Levites. The Levites who were twenty years old or older were put in charge of rebuilding the LORD’s Temple. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>The workers at the Temple of God were supervised by Jeshua with his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons, all descendants of Hodaviah.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">f</span></a> They were helped in this task by the Levites of the family of Henadad.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>When the builders completed the foundation of the LORD’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the LORD, just as King David had prescribed. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the LORD:</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1">“He is so good!</p><p class="line2">His faithful love for Israel endures forever!”</p><p class="b"/><p class="m">Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the LORD because the foundation of the LORD’s Temple had been laid.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/3-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">3:1 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">In the seventh month.</span><span class="ft"> The year is not specified, so it may have been during Cyrus’s first year (538 </span><span class="sc">b.c.</span><span class="ft">) or second year (537 </span><span class="sc">b.c.</span><span class="ft">). The seventh month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred within the months of September/October 538 </span><span class="sc">b.c.</span><span class="ft"> and October/November 537 </span><span class="sc">b.c.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">3:2 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">Jozadak,</span><span class="ft"> a variant spelling of Jehozadak; also in 3:8.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">3:6 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">On the first day of the seventh month.</span><span class="ft"> This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in September or October. The Festival of Shelters began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">3:7 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">the sea.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">3:8 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">in the second month.</span><span class="ft"> This month in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred within the months of April and May 536 </span><span class="sc">b.c.</span><br><span class="fn">f</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">3:9 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">sons of Judah</span><span class="ft"> (i.e., </span><span class="it">bene Yehudah</span><span class="ft">). </span><span class="it">Bene</span><span class="ft"> might also be read here as the proper name Binnui; </span><span class="it">Yehudah</span><span class="ft"> is probably another name for Hodaviah. Compare 2:40; Neh 7:43; 1 Esdras 5:58.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of <a href="http://www.tyndale.com">Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.</a>, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 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