Sacrifices Restored

1And the seventh month had come, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, and the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.

2And Jeshua son of Jozadak† arose, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and his brothers, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer on it burnt offerings, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3And they set the altar on its bases despite the dread upon them of the people of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to YHWH, burnt offerings at the morning and at the evening.

4And they kept the Feast of Booths,† as it is written, and the burnt offering day by day by number according to the ordinance, the matter of a day in its day,

5and afterward the continual burnt offering, and for New Moons, and for all the appointed feasts of YHWH that were consecrated, and for everyone who freely offered a freewill offering to YHWH.

6From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to YHWH, and the temple of YHWH had not been founded. 7And they gave silver to the masons and to the carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, by permission of Cyrus king of Persia concerning them.

Temple Restoration Begins

8In the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, and in the second month, began Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those coming out of the captivity to Jerusalem. And they appointed the Levites, from a son of twenty years and above, to oversee upon the work of the house of YHWH. 9And Jeshua arose, and his sons and brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Judah),† as one, to oversee upon those doing the work in the house of God—the sons of Henadad, and their sons and their brothers the Levites.

10And the builders of the temple of YHWH laid the foundation, and they stood—the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph with cymbals—to praise YHWH according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. 11And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to YHWH:

“For He is good,

even to forever His loving devotion† is over Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised YHWH, because the house of YHWH had been founded.

12And many of the priests, and the Levites, and the heads of the fathers, the aged who had seen the first temple, when this temple had been founded before their eyes, wept in a loud voice. And many shouted for joy, lifting up the voice. 13And the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted in a loud shout, and the sound was heard even to afar off.

Footnotes:

2 Jozadak is a variant of Jehozadak; also in verse 8; see 1 Chronicles 6:14.
4 That is, Sukkot, the autumn feast of pilgrimage to Jerusalem; also translated as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Shelters and originally called the Feast of Ingathering (see Exodus 23:16 and Exodus 34:22).
9 That is, most likely, Yehudah, a variant of Judah and another name for Hodevah or Hodaviah; see Ezra 2:40 and Nehemiah 7:43.
11 Forms of the Hebrew chesed are translated here and in most cases throughout the Scriptures as loving devotion; the range of meaning includes love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and mercy, as well as loyalty to a covenant.