Ezra 3:9-13

3:9 So Jeshua appointed both his sons and his relatives, ¹  Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Yehudah ² ), to take charge of the workers in the temple of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their relatives ³  the Levites. 3:10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions, ⁴  and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by ⁵  King David of Israel. ⁶  3:11 With antiphonal response they sang, ⁷  praising and glorifying the Lord:

“For he is good;

his loyal love toward Israel is forever.”

All the people gave a loud ⁸  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 ⁹  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ¹⁰  – were weeping loudly, ¹¹  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 ¹²  that the sound was heard a long way off.

¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

² sn The name יְהוּדָה (Yehudah; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB “Judah”) is probably a variant of Hodaviah (see Ezra 2:40; cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

³ tn Heb “brothers.”

⁴ sn This was a long, straight, metallic instrument used for signal calls, rather than the traditional ram’s horn (both instruments are typically translated “trumpet” by English versions).

⁵ tn Heb “according to the hands of.”

⁶ sn See Ps 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1. Cf. 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; 20:21.

⁷ tn Heb “they answered.”

⁸ tn Heb “great.”

⁹ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

¹⁰ sn The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.

¹¹ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

¹² tn Heb “a great shout.”