Rebuilding the altar
1 By the seventh month, the Israelites were already settled in their cities. Then all the people gathered in Jerusalem.
2 Joshua, son of Jozadak, with his fellow-priests, and Zerubbabel, son of She altiel, with his brothers, began rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel, to offer the sacrifices upon it, as it is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God.
3 They built the altar in the same place, in spite of the fear they had of the people of the land, and they offered burnt offerings upon it, and the morning and evening sacrifice.
4 They celebrated the Feast of the Tabernacles as it is written, and offered burnt offerings daily according to the established ritual.
5 Then they continued offering the perpetual sacrifice and the sacrifices on the sabbaths, the new moon and all the solemnities of Yahweh, besides what everyone would offer voluntarily to Yahweh.
6 They began offering burnt offerings on the first day of the seventh month, although the foundation of the House of Yahweh had not yet been laid.
7 They gave money to the masons and the carpenters. They also gave food, wine and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar lumber from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, according to the authorization of Cyrus, king of Persia.
8 In the second year, after their arrival at the House of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, son of Jozadak, with the rest of their brothers, the priests, the Levites and all who had returned to Jerusalem from exile, began the work: they appointed the Levites who were twenty years old and upward to supervise the work in the House of Yahweh.
9 Joshua, his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, and the sons of Henadad, all to gether agreed to supervise those who worked in the House of God.
10 When the workers had laid the foundation for the sanctuary of Yahweh, the priests, clothed in fine linen, came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals, and they sang to Yahweh accord ing to the ordinance of David, king of Israel.
11 They gave thanks to Yahweh, singing and praising: “For he is good, for his love for Israel is eternal.”
All the people shouted aloud the praises of Yahweh for the foundation of the House of Yah weh had now been laid. Many of the priests, Le vites and older heads of the families who have seen the first house wept with great lamentation as the foundation was laid.
12 But others raised their voices with shouts of joy,
13 and the people could not distinguish the shouts of rejoicing from the cries of weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the noise was heard afar.
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Comments Ezra, Chapter 3
• 3.1 For the Jews, the restoration of the Temple became an opportunity to rediscover how different they were from all the other nations in that they served the only God. It also allowed them to affirm their identity as Jews among the people of the country, since working together strengthens unity.
We will also note that, when they first arrived from exile, they generously offered to provide all that was needed to build the Temple (2:68). Yet, twenty years go by and the intervention of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah was needed to implement the projects agreed upon in the enthusiasm of their return.