Ezra 3 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And when the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people came together like one man to Jerusalem.
1 When the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, with his brothers, got up and made the altar of the God of Israel for burned offerings as is recorded in the law of Moses, the man of God.
2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up with his brothers the priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his relatives, and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3 They put the altar on its base; for fear was on them because of the people of the countries: and they made burned offerings on it to the Lord, even burned offerings morning and evening.
3 In spite of their fear because of the peoples of the surrounding lands, they set the altar on its base; and they offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
4 And they kept the feast of tents, as it is recorded, making the regular burned offerings every day by number, as it is ordered; for every day what was needed.
4 They kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required;
5 And after that, the regular burned offering and the offerings for the new moons and all the fixed feasts of the Lord which had been made holy, and the offering of everyone who freely gave his offering to the Lord.
5 and afterward the continual burnt offering, the offerings of the new moons, of all the set feasts of Yahweh that were consecrated, and of everyone who willingly offered a free will offering to Yahweh.
6 From the first day of the seventh month they made a start with the burned offerings, but the base of the Temple of the Lord had still not been put in its place.
6 From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh; but the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was not yet laid.
7 And they gave money to the stoneworkers and woodworkers; and meat and drink and oil to the people of Zidon and of Tyre, for the transport of cedar-trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, as Cyrus, king of Persia, had given them authority to do.
7 They also gave money to the masons and to the carpenters. They also gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus King of Persia.
8 Now in the second year of their coming into the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, the work was taken in hand by Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come from the land where they were prisoners to Jerusalem: and they made the Levites, of twenty years old and over, responsible for overseeing the work of the house of the Lord.
8 Now in the second year of their coming to God’s house at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of Yahweh’s house.
9 Then Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, the sons of Hodaviah, together took up the work of overseeing the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brothers, the Levites.
9 Then Jeshua stood with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together to have the oversight of the workmen in God’s house: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the Levites.
10 And when the builders put in position the base of the Temple of the Lord, the priests, dressed in their robes, took their places with horns, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with brass instruments, to give praise to the Lord in the way ordered by David, king of Israel.
10 When the builders laid the foundation of Yahweh’s temple, they set the priests in their vestments with trumpets, with the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Yahweh, according to the directions of David king of Israel.
11 And they gave praise to the Lord, answering one another in their songs and saying, For he is good, for his mercy to Israel is eternal. And all the people gave a great cry of joy, when they gave praise to the Lord, because the base of the Lord's house was put in place.
11 They sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, “For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel.” All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of Yahweh’s house had been laid.
12 But a number of the priests and Levites and the heads of families, old men who had seen the first house, when the base of this house was put down before their eyes, were overcome with weeping; and a number were crying out with joy:
12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. Many also shouted aloud for joy,
13 So that in the ears of the people the cry of joy was mixed with the sound of weeping; for the cries of the people were loud and came to the ears of those who were a long way off.
13 so that 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 with a loud shout, and the noise was heard far away.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Henadad
Named as the father of the Levites ("sons of Henadad") who supervised the temple work; Binnui son of Henadad helped rebuild the wall.
Cited in the guide: Ezra 3:9; Nehemiah 3:18; Nehemiah 10:9
Jeshua
Levite who returned with Zerubbabel, supervised the temple work with Kadmiel, taught the people the Law, and led the confession and blessing. The list in Neh 10:9 names a Jeshua…
Cited in the guide: Ezra 2:40; Ezra 3:9; Nehemiah 8:7
Kadmiel
Levite whose family returned and who, with Jeshua and the sons of Henadad, oversaw the temple builders; he later joined in the Levites’ prayer and the covenant.
Cited in the guide: Ezra 2:40; Ezra 3:9; Nehemiah 9:4
Shealtiel
A son of the exiled king, a link between fallen throne and hoped-for return.
Cited in the guide: 1 Chron. 3:17; Ezra 3:2; Hag. 1:1; Matt. 1:12; Luke 3:27
Zerubbabel
He led the return from Babylon and rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem.
Cited in the guide: Ezra 3-6; Hag. 2:23; Zech. 4; Matt. 1:12-13
Cross references (12)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Acts 4:32; Leviticus 23:24; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Nehemiah 7:73–8:2; Acts 2:46
- 2 Luke 3:27; Haggai 1:1; Ezra 2:2; 1 Chronicles 3:17; Exodus 20:24–25
- 3 Numbers 28:2–8; Ezra 4:4; Exodus 29:38–42; 2 Chronicles 4:1; Ezra 8:21–22
- 4 Exodus 23:16; Numbers 29:12–38; Nehemiah 8:14–17; Zechariah 14:16–19; John 7:37
- 5 Numbers 29:39; Numbers 28:19; Numbers 29:8; Deuteronomy 12:17; Numbers 29:2
- 7 1 Kings 5:6; Acts 12:20; Acts 9:36; Jonah 1:3; 1 Kings 5:9–11
- 8 Ezra 4:3; 1 Chronicles 23:4; 1 Chronicles 23:24–32; Numbers 4:3
- 9 Ezra 2:40; Nehemiah 7:43; Ezra 3:8
- 10 1 Chronicles 25:1–7; Zechariah 4:10; 1 Chronicles 16:4–7; 1 Chronicles 6:31–48; 1 Chronicles 15:27
- 11 Psalm 106:1; 1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 107:1; Psalm 103:17; Psalm 118:1
- 12 Haggai 2:3; Jeremiah 31:8–9; Matthew 13:31–32; Isaiah 60:22; Daniel 2:34–35
- 13 Luke 19:37–40; 1 Samuel 4:5; 1 Kings 1:45; Jeremiah 33:11; Psalm 100:1–2
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences