Liber Esdrae, 3

1. Iamque venerat mensis septi mus, et erant filii Israel in civita tibus suis. Congregatus est ergo populus quasi vir unus in Ierusalem.

1. When the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem.

2. Et surrexit Iesua filius Iosedec et fratres eius sacerdotes et Zorobabel filius Salathiel et fratres eius et aedificaverunt altare Dei Israel, ut offerrent in eo holocautomata, sicut scriptum est in lege Moysi viri Dei.

2. Then arose Jeshua the son of Jo'zadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerub'babel the son of She-al'ti-el with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

3. Collocaverunt autem altare super bases suas, deterrentibus eos per circuitum populis terrarum, et obtulerunt super illud holocaustum Domino mane et vespere.

3. They set the altar in its place, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening.

4. Feceruntque sollemnitatem Tabernaculorum, sicut scriptum est, et holocaustum diebus singulis per ordinem, secundum praeceptum pro singulis diebus;

4. And they kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as each day required,

5. et praeter holocaustum sempiternum illa etiam pro calendis et universis sollemnitatibus, quae erant consecratae Domino, et pro omnibus, quae ultro offerebantur Domino.

5. and after that the continual burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the LORD, and the offerings of every one who made a freewill offering to the LORD.

6. A primo die mensis septimi coeperunt offerre holocaustum Domino; porro templum Dei nondum fundatum erat.

6. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.

7. Dederunt autem pecunias latomis et fabris, cibum quoque et potum et oleum Sidoniis Tyriisque, ut deferrent ligna cedrina de Libano ad mare Ioppe, iuxta quod concesserat Cyrus rex Persarum eis.

7. So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sido'nians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant which they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

8. Anno autem secundo adventus eorum ad templum Dei in Ierusalem mense secundo, coeperunt Zorobabel filius Salathiel et Iesua filius Iosedec et reliqui de fratribus eorum sacerdotes et Levitae et omnes, qui venerant de captivitate in Ierusalem, et constituerunt Levitas a viginti annis et supra, ut dirigerent opus templi Domini.

8. Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerub'babel the son of She-al'ti-el and Jeshua the son of Jo'zadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their brethren, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the house of the LORD.

9. Stetitque Iesua et filii eius et fratres eius, Cadmihel, Bennui et Odovia quasi vir unus, ut dirigerent eos, qui faciebant opus in templo Dei; itemque filii Henadad et filii eorum et fratres eorum Levitae.

9. And Jeshua with his sons and his kinsmen, and Kad'mi-el and his sons, the sons of Judah, together took the oversight of the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Hen'adad and the Levites, their sons and kinsmen.

10. Fundato igitur ab aedificatoribus templo Domini, steterunt sacerdotes in ornatu suo cum tubis, et Levitae filii Asaph in cymbalis, ut laudarent Deum iuxta mandatum David regis Israel.

10. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel;

11. Et concinebant in hymnis et gratiarum actione Domino: “Quoniam bonus, quoniam in aeternum misericordia eius” super Israel. Omnis quoque populus vociferabatur clamore magno in laudando Dominum, eo quod fundatum esset templum Domini.

11. and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever toward Israel." And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

12. Plurimi etiam senes de sacerdotibus et Levitis et principibus familiarum, qui viderant oculis suis prius templum in loco suo, flebant voce magna; et multi vociferantes in laetitia elevabant vocem.

12. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy;

13. Nec poterat quisquam agnoscere vocem clamoris laetantium et vocem fletus populi, quoniam populus vociferabatur clamore magno, et strepitus audiebatur procul.

13. so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard afar.