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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//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 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></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="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</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">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">Worship Begins Again</h3><p class="par"><span class="v15_3_1"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.1" class="v15_3_1">1</span>By the seventh month the people of Israel were all settled in their towns. Then they all assembled in Jerusalem, </span><span class="v15_3_2"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.2" class="v15_3_2">2</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.3.2!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> and Joshua son of Jehozadak, his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, together with his relatives, rebuilt the altar of the God of Israel, so that they could burn sacrifices on it according to the instructions written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. </span><span class="v15_3_3"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.3" class="v15_3_3">3</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.3.3!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Even though<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.3.3!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> the returning exiles were afraid of the people who were living in the land, they rebuilt the altar where it had stood before. Then they began once again to burn on it the regular morning and evening sacrifices. </span><span class="v15_3_4"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.4" class="v15_3_4">4</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.3.4!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> They celebrated the Festival of Shelters according to the regulations; each day they offered the sacrifices required for that day; </span><span class="v15_3_5"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.5" class="v15_3_5">5</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.3.5!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> and in addition they offered the regular sacrifices to be burned whole and those to be offered at the New Moon Festival and at all the other regular assemblies at which the <span class="nd">Lord</span> is worshiped, as well as all the offerings that were given to the <span class="nd">Lord</span> voluntarily. </span><span class="v15_3_6"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.6" class="v15_3_6">6</span>Although the people had not yet started to rebuild the Temple, they began on the first day of the seventh month to burn sacrifices to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>.</span></p><h3 class="s">The Rebuilding of the Temple Begins</h3><p class="par"><span class="v15_3_7"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.7" class="v15_3_7">7</span>The people gave money to pay the stonemasons and the carpenters and gave food, drink, and olive oil to be sent to the cities of Tyre and Sidon in exchange for cedar trees from Lebanon, which were to be brought by sea to Joppa. All this was done with the permission of Emperor Cyrus of Persia. </span><span class="v15_3_8"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.8" class="v15_3_8">8</span>So in the second month of the year after they came back to the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, they began work. Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the rest of their people, the priests, and the Levites, in fact all the exiles who had come back to Jerusalem, joined in the work. All the Levites twenty years of age or older were put in charge of the work of rebuilding the Temple. </span><span class="v15_3_9"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.9" class="v15_3_9">9</span>The Levite Jeshua and his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons (the clan of Hodaviah<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.3.9!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> ) joined together in taking charge of the rebuilding of the Temple. (They were helped by the Levites of the clan of Henadad.)</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v15_3_10"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.10" class="v15_3_10">10</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.3.10!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> When the builders started to lay the foundation of the Temple, the priests in their robes took their places with trumpets in their hands, and the Levites of the clan of Asaph stood there with cymbals. They praised the <span class="nd">Lord</span> according to the instructions handed down from the time of King David. </span><span class="v15_3_11"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.11" class="v15_3_11">11</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.3.11!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> They sang the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s praises, repeating the refrain:</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v15_3_11">“The <span class="nd">Lord</span> is good, and his love for Israel is eternal.”</span></p><p class="m"><span class="v15_3_11">Everyone shouted with all their might, praising the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, because the work on the foundation of the Temple had been started. </span><span class="v15_3_12"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.12" class="v15_3_12">12</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.3.12!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Many of the older priests, Levites, and heads of clans had seen the first Temple, and as they watched the foundation of this Temple being laid, they cried and wailed. But the others who were there shouted for joy. </span><span class="v15_3_13"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.3.13" class="v15_3_13">13</span>No one could distinguish between the joyful shouts and the crying, because the noise they made was so loud that it could be heard for miles.</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">3.3: </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Even though; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">or </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Because.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">3.9: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Probable text (see 2.40) </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Hodaviah; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Judah.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. 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