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Worship Restored at Jerusalem

¹And when the ⚓seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. ²Then 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. ³Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered ⚓burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the 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 number required by ordinance for each day. ⁵Afterwards they offered the ⚓regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the Lord. ⁶From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, although the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid. ⁷They also gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and ⚓food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the sea, to ⚓Joppa, ⚓according to the permission which they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Restoration of the Temple Begins

⁸Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, ⚓Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work⚓and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. ⁹Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah, arose as one to oversee those working on the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
¹⁰When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, ⚓the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the ⚓ordinance of David king of Israel. ¹¹⚓And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord:
⚓“For He is good,
⚓For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.”
Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
¹²But many of the priests and Levites and ⚓heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, ¹³so 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 sound was heard afar off.

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恢復敬拜上帝的生活

¹到了七月，以色列人住在自己的城裏；那時他們如同一人，聚集在耶路撒冷。 ²約薩達的兒子耶書亞和他的弟兄眾祭司，以及撒拉鐵的兒子所羅巴伯和他的弟兄，都起來建築以色列上帝的壇，要照神人摩西律法書上所寫的，在壇上獻燔祭。 ³他們在原有的根基上築壇，因為他們懼怕鄰邦民族，又在其上向耶和華早晚獻燔祭， ⁴並照律法書上所寫的守住棚節，按數照例每日獻所當獻的燔祭。 ⁵此後，他們獻常獻的燔祭，並在初一和耶和華一切分別為聖的節期獻祭，又向耶和華獻各人的甘心祭。 ⁶從七月初一起，雖然耶和華殿的根基尚未立定，他們開始向耶和華獻燔祭。 ⁷他們把銀子給石匠、木匠，把糧食、酒、油給西頓人、推羅人，好將香柏樹從黎巴嫩浮海運到約帕，是照波斯王居魯士所允准他們的。

重建聖殿

⁸他們到了耶路撒冷上帝殿的第二年，二月的時候，撒拉鐵的兒子所羅巴伯，約薩達的兒子耶書亞和其餘的弟兄，就是祭司和利未人，以及所有被擄歸回耶路撒冷的人，就開工建造；他們派二十歲以上的利未人，監督建造耶和華殿的工作。 ⁹於是何達威雅⚓的後裔，就是耶書亞和他的子孫與弟兄、甲篾和他的子孫，他們和利未人希拿達的子孫與弟兄，都起來如同一人，監督那些在上帝殿裏做工的人。
¹⁰工匠立耶和華殿根基的時候，祭司穿禮服吹號，利未人亞薩的子孫敲鈸，都照以色列王大衛親手所定的，站着讚美耶和華。 ¹¹他們彼此唱和，讚美稱謝耶和華：
「他本為善，
他向以色列永施慈愛。」
他們讚美耶和華的時候，眾百姓大聲呼喊，因為耶和華殿的根基已經立定。 ¹²然而有許多祭司、利未人和族長，就是見過先前那殿的老年人，現在親眼看見這殿立了根基，就大聲哭號，也有許多人大聲歡呼， ¹³百姓不能分辨歡呼的聲音或哭號的聲音，因為百姓大聲呼喊，聲音連遠處都可聽到。