Ezra 3:11-13

3:11 With antiphonal response they sang, ¹  praising and glorifying the Lord:

“For he is good;

his loyal love toward Israel is forever.”

All the people gave a loud ²  shout as they praised the Lord when the temple of the Lord was established. 3:12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ³  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ⁴  – were weeping loudly, ⁵  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout. 3:13 People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly ⁶  that the sound was heard a long way off.

Ezra 6:15-17

6:15 They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth ⁷  year of the reign of King Darius.

6:16 The people ⁸  of Israel – the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles ⁹  – observed the dedication of this temple of God with joy. 6:17 For the dedication of this temple of God they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

[3:11]  ¹ tn Heb “they answered.”

[3:11]  ² tn Heb “great.”

[3:12]  ³ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

[3:12]  ⁴ sn The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.

[3:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “a great shout.”

[6:15]  ⁷ sn The sixth year of the reign of Darius would be ca. 516 B.C.

[6:16]  ⁸ tn Aram “sons of.”

[6:16]  ⁹ tn Aram “sons of the exile.”