3Seven months after the Israelites had settled in their cities, they all gathered together in Jerusalem as a united body.H7637H2320H5060H1121H3478H5892H5971H622H259H376H33892Then Jozadak's son Jeshua and his brothers got up, along with Shealtiel's son Zerubabbel and his brothers. They built an altar of the God of Israel in order to offer burnt offerings, as prescribed by the Law of Moses, the man of God.H6965H3442H1121H3136H251H3548H2216H1121H7597H251H1129H4196H430H3478H5927H5930H3789H8451H4872H376H4303Even though they feared the people in neighboring regions, they rebuilt the altar where it had stood before. They offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord - burnt offerings both in the morning and in the evening.H3559H4196H4350H367H5971H776H5927H5930H3068H5930H1242H61534They also observed the Festival of Tabernacles as has been prescribed, offering a specific number of daily burnt offerings in accordance with the ordinance of each day.H6213H2282H5521H3789H3117H3117H5930H4557H4941H1697H3117H31175After that, they offered all of the continual burnt offerings and the new moon sacrifices for all of the designated festivals of the Lord that were being consecrated, along with all the voluntary offerings that were dedicated to the Lord.H310H8548H5930H2320H4150H3068H6942H5068H5071H30686They began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord from the first day of the seventh month, even though the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not yet been laid.33H259H3117H7637H2320H2490H5927H5930H3068H3245H1964H3068H3245
Construction Begins on the Temple
7They paid masons and carpenters in cash. They paid the residents of Sidon and Tyre with food, drink, and oil, for them to bring cedar trees by sea from Lebanon to Joppa in accordance with the order they had obtained from Cyrus, king of Persia.H5414H3701H2672H2796H3978H4960H8081H6722H6876H935H730H6086H3844H3220H3305H7558H3566H4428H65398Two years and two months after arriving at the site of the temple of God in Jerusalem, Shealtiel's son Zerubabbel, Jozadak's son Jeshua, the relatives of the priests and Levites, and everyone else who had left the Babylonian captivity for Jerusalem appointed Levites who were 20 years old and older to oversee the work of the Lord'st emple.H8145H8141H935H1004H430H3389H8145H2320H2490H2216H1121H7597H3442H1121H3136H7605H251H3548H3881H935H7628H3389H5975H3881H6242H8141H1121H4605H5329H4399H1004H30689At this time Jeshua, along with his children and relatives, and Kadmiel, with his children and the descendants of Judah, joined the family of Henadad with his children and relatives, and the Levites in overseeing the work on the temple of God.H5975H3442H1121H251H6934H1121H1121H3063H259H5329H6213H4399H1004H430H1121H2582H1121H251H3881
The Temple Foundation is Laid
10After the builders laid the foundation for the Lord's temple, the priests stood in their ministerial robes with trumpets and the Levite descendants of Asaph with cymbals to praise the Lord, according to instructions prepared by David, king of Israel.H1129H3245H1964H3068H5975H3548H3847H2689H3881H1121H623H4700H1984H3068H3027H1732H4428H347811And they sang in unison to one another, giving thanks to the Lord: "He is good, and his gracious love to Israel endures forever." And all the people shouted out loudly in praise to the Lord when the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid.3H6030H1984H3034H3068H2896H2617H5769H3478H5971H7321H1419H8643H1984H3068H3245H1004H3068H3245
Remembering the Former Temple
12Now a number of the priests, the Levities, and the leading officials of the elders - who were really old - had seen the former temple with their own eyes. When they observed the foundation of the temple being laid, they wept with a loud voice, while the rest of them shouted for joy.H7227H3548H3881H7218H1H2205H7200H7223H1004H3245H1004H3245H5869H1058H1419H6963H7227H8643H7311H805713As a result, the people couldn't distinguish between the noise coming from the shouts of joy and the noise coming from the weeping people, because everyone was shouting loudly and could be heard a long way off.312H5971H5234H6963H8643H8057H6963H1065H5971H5971H7321H1419H8643H6963H8085H7350
