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Ezra 3

Ezra 3 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Ezra 3 marks the return to worship after exile. The people rebuild the altar, resume sacrifices, and begin work on the temple foundation. The chapter holds both celebration and sorrow as the new beginning stirs memories of the former house of God.

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What happens in Ezra 3?

The returned Israelites gather in Jerusalem and first restore the altar so daily sacrifices can begin again, even while they fear the surrounding peoples. They keep the Feast of Tabernacles and offer the regular sacrifices and freewill offerings. Later, under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Jeshua, the priests, and the Levites, the builders lay the temple foundation. Worship rises with trumpets, cymbals, singing, and thanksgiving. Yet the moment is mixed: some rejoice loudly, while older leaders weep because they remember the first temple. The chapter ends with a sound of praise and grief heard far away.

Ezra 3 follows the return from exile and the listing of those who came back in chapter 2. Before the temple itself is rebuilt, the people restore worship at the altar and organize the work for the house of the LORD. This chapter sits at the turning point between return and reconstruction, showing the first signs of renewed life in Jerusalem.

Themes to notice

  • Restored worshipThe altar is rebuilt first, showing that returning to God begins with renewed sacrifice and obedience.
  • Shared leadershipPriests, Levites, and civil leaders work together to guide the people and oversee the temple project.
  • Joy and sorrowThe foundation brings praise, but also grief from those who remember the former temple.

Questions for Ezra 3

  • Why was rebuilding the altar the first important step for the returned exiles?
  • What do the mixed reactions at the temple foundation reveal about the people's hopes and memories?
  • How does this chapter show both obedience and worship during a difficult restart?

Read the full text of Ezra 3 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Ezra 3

Sacrifices Restored

1By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.2Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests, along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates, began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.3They set up the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD—both the morning and evening burnt offerings—even though they feared the people of the land.4They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day.5After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings and those for New Moons and for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as all the freewill offerings brought to the LORD.6On the first day of the seventh month, the Israelites began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, although the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid.7They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.

Temple Restoration Begins

8In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of the LORD.9So Jeshua and his sons and brothers, Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Yehudah), and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

10When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their positions to praise the LORD, as David king of Israel had prescribed.

11And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD:

“For He is good;

for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever.”

Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid.

12But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully.13The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people were making so much noise. And the sound was heard from afar.

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