First official Jewish sacrifices in half a century
1Jews who came back to Israel from exile met in Jerusalem during the fall. This was in the seventh month on the Jewish calendar. [1] 2The people wanted to offer sacrifices to God again, as the laws of Moses said they should do. [2] So, the top priest, Jeshua son of Jozadak, started building a new altar over the ruins of the old one. He worked with his associate priests. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel helped, too, and so did some of his family.3As newcomers, the returning Jews were afraid of the locals. So, they quickly set up the altar where it had been before, and they sacrificed to God every morning and night. 4They observed the Last Harvest Festival. [3] Every day of the festival they sacrificed the animals, grain, and olive oil that the law required. [4]
5After this sacred holiday, the Jews continued their ancient practice of offering sacrifices each day. They did the same for all the special religious events, such as the beginning of each new moon along with all the other sacred holidays on the calendar. People also brought sacrificial gifts just because they wanted to, as freewill offerings.
6This was before anyone started rebuilding the Temple or the foundation. Even without a Temple, the people kept bringing their offerings to the altar. This started on the day the altar was rebuilt, on the first day of the seventh month.
Construction workers wanted
7To prep for rebuilding the Temple, people gave money to hire stonemasons and carpenters. And they paid merchants from Sidon and Tyre to transport [5] cedar trees from Lebanon to Joppa. King Cyrus of Persia covered the cost with a grant. The people added their own donations in food, wine, and olive oil.8Jews started work on the Temple in the springtime, almost a year and two months after they got back from exile. [6] Leading the work were the governor, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and the top priest, Jeshua son of Jozadak. Other Jews helped, including priests and their associates, the Levites. Every Levite man 20 years old and older directed some phase of the work.
9Priests and Levites with their families supervised the workers. Among the bosses were Jeshua and his sons and others in his family, Kadmiel and his sons, Binnui and Hodaviah, [7] and Henadad’s sons.
Celebration: roaring cheers, screaming tears
10When they finished laying the foundation, they celebrated. Priests dressed in their formal robes. Then they expressed thanks to God by blowing rams’ horns. Levites from the family of Asaph joined in, playing the cymbals. The people did this to follow King David’s instructions [8] for how to celebrate construction of the first Temple. 11They thanked the LORD and praised him with their music:“He is so good to us.
His love never wavers.
His love never ends.
He is so good to Israel.”
12But there were a lot tears among the cheering crowd. Some old-timers who had seen the first Temple started crying. Some priests, Levites, family leaders, and the elderly began to weep. As loud as some were cheering for joy, others wept [9] and sobbed at the sight of the new Temple’s foundation. 13Sounds of cheering and crying churned into one rolling roar of thunder that people could hear from far away. But it was impossible to distinguish laughter from sobbing.
