Building the altar to the true God
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📚And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 2 📚Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel 📖, and his brethren, arose 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 📚And they set up the altar on its foundation, despite the fear 📖 that came on them because of the people of those countries; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both morning and evening burnt offerings 📖. 4 📚They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles 📖, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the required number for each day, according to the ordinance. 5 📚And afterwards they offered the continual burnt offering, also offerings at the new moons 📖 and all the appointed feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the LORD.Building of the temple begins
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 had not yet been laid.
7 📚They also gave money to the masons and to the carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the men of Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar trees 📖 from Lebanon on the sea to Joppa, in accordance with the permission they had from Cyrus king of Persia.
8 📚Now in the second month of the second year 📖 after their arrival at the house of God 📖 in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak and the rest of their brethren, the priests and the Levites and all those who had come from the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work, and appointed the Levites, twenty years 📖 old and over, to oversee the work of the house of the LORD. 9 📚Then Jeshua, with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, arose together to supervise the workers in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
10 📚And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their apparel stood with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph stood with cymbals, to praise the LORD, in accordance with the ordinance of David king of Israel. 11 📚And they sang together by turns, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, because he is good, for his mercy continues on forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout as they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid. 12 📚But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ households were old men who had seen the first house 📖. When the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, they wept with a loud voice. But many shouted aloud for joy, 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 off.