HOLY BIBLE: Ezra 3 (original) (raw)

7 καὶ ἔδωκαν ἀργύριον τοῖς λατόμοις καὶ τοῖς τέκτοσιν καὶ βρώματα καὶ ποτὰ καὶ ἔλαιον τοῖς Σηδανιν καὶ τοῖς Σωριν ἐνέγκαι ξύλα κέδρινα ἀπὸ τοῦ Λιβάνου πρὸς θάλασσαν Ιόππης κα{T'} ἐπιχώρησιν Κύρου βασιλέως Περσῶν ἐ{P'} αὐτούς 8 καὶ ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῷ δευτέρῳ τοῦ ἐλθεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς Ιερουσαλημ ἐν μηνὶ τῷ δευτέρῳ ἤρξατο Ζοροβαβελ ὁ τοῦ Σαλαθιηλ καὶ Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ιωσεδεκ καὶ οἱ κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτῶν οἱ ἱερεῖς καὶ οἱ Λευῖται καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐρχόμενοι ἀπὸ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας εἰς Ιερουσαλημ καὶ ἔστησαν τοὺς Λευίτας ἀπὸ εἰκοσαετοῦς καὶ ἐπάνω ἐπὶ τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὰ ἔργα ἐν οἴκῳ κυρίου 9 καὶ ἔστη Ἰησοῦς καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ Καδμιηλ καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ υἱοὶ Ιουδα ἐπὶ τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὰ ἔργα ἐν οἴκῳ τοῦ θεοῦ υἱοὶ Ηναδαδ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν καὶ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτῶν οἱ Λευῖται 10 καὶ ἐθεμελίωσαν τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι τὸν οἶκον κυρίου καὶ ἔστησαν οἱ ἱερεῖς ἐστολισμένοι ἐν σάλπιγξιν καὶ οἱ Λευῖται υἱοὶ Ασαφ ἐν κυμβάλοις τοῦ αἰνεῖν τὸν κύριον ἐπὶ χεῖρας Δαυιδ βασιλέως Ισραηλ 11 καὶ ἀπεκρίθησαν ἐν αἴνῳ καὶ ἀνθομολογήσει τῷ κυρίῳ ὅτι ἀγαθόν ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ Ισραηλ καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἐσήμαινον φωνὴν μεγάλην αἰνεῖν τῷ κυρίῳ ἐπὶ θεμελιώσει οἴκου κυρίου

7 But meanwhile, money was being spent on quarrymen and stone-masons; on food, too, and drink, and oil for the men of Tyre and Sidon, who must convey cedar planks from Lebanon by sea to Joppe, in pursuance of the Persian king’s decree. 8 And in the second month of the second year after their return to God’s temple at Jerusalem, Zorobabel and Josue with their brethren, priests and Levites and citizens returned from exile, began their task. Levites that were above the age of twenty were appointed to hasten on the execution of the divine command, 9 and at the head of these Levites, clansmen of Henadad’s clan, were Josue’s clan and Cedmihel’s (and the men of Juda), insisting that they should give the temple workmen no rest.[2] 10 So at last the masons laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple. There stood the priests in full array with their trumpets; there stood the Levites, come down from Asaph, with their cymbals, ready to praise God as David bade them, that long ago was king of all Israel. 11 And as their hymn of praise went up to the Lord, The Lord is gracious, his mercy to Israel endures for ever, the whole people raised a great shout, thanking the Lord that now the foundation of his temple was laid.

7 Dederunt autem pecunias latomis et cæmentariis: cibum quoque, et potum, et oleum Sidoniis Tyriisque, ut deferrent ligna cedrina de Libano ad mare Joppe, juxta quod præceperat Cyrus rex Persarum eis. 8 Anno autem secundo adventus eorum ad templum Dei in Jerusalem, mense secundo, cœperunt Zorobabel filius Salathiel, et Josue filius Josedec, et reliqui de fratribus eorum sacerdotes, et Levitæ, et omnes qui venerant de captivitate in Jerusalem, et constituerunt Levitas a viginti annis et supra, ut urgerent opus Domini. 9 Stetitque Josue et filii ejus et fratres ejus, Cedmihel et filii ejus, et filii Juda, quasi vir unus, ut instarent super eos qui faciebant opus in templo Dei: filii Henadad, et filii eorum, et fratres eorum Levitæ. 10 Fundato igitur a cæmentariis templo Domini, steterunt sacerdotes in ornatu suo cum tubis, et Levitæ filii Asaph in cymbalis, ut laudarent Deum per manus David regis Israël. 11 Et concinebant in hymnis, et confessione Domino: Quoniam bonus, quoniam in æternum misericordia ejus super Israël. Omnis quoque populus vociferabatur clamore magno in laudando Dominum, eo quod fundatum esset templum Domini.

[1] This seems the best account to give of a difficult phrase in the original, ‘They set up the altar of God on its base, because they were afraid of the native population round about’. Fear of their neighbours accounted, not for the rebuilding of the altar, but for the rebuilding of the altar without walls or roof to shelter it; cf. verse 6. In the (uncanonical) book known as III Esdras, the neighbours are represented as coming in and helping to build the altar.

[2] The text of this verse may well be corrupt, but cannot be restored with certainty.

[3] Or possibly, ‘And now, before their eyes, this (new) temple had been founded’. The Hebrew text is difficult to reconstruct; it seems to run, ‘There were many who had seen the earlier temple. And when it was founded (or, when he founded it), this temple, before their eyes, (they were) weeping with a loud voice, and many with a shout with joy to raise the voice’.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd