53. Although the people had not yet rebuilt God's Temple, everyone who had made a vow to God began to offer sacrifices on the first day of the seventh month.
54. The people gave money to pay the stonemasons and the carpenters; they gave food, drink,
55. and carts to be sent to the cities of Tyre and Sidon in exchange for cedar logs from Lebanon, which were to be floated to the harbour at Joppa. All this was done according to the orders given by Cyrus, emperor of Persia.
56-57. So in the second month of the year after they came back to the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, they started the work and began laying the foundation. Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the rest of their fellow-Israelites, the priests, and the Levites — in fact, all the exiles who had come back to Jerusalem, joined in the work.
58. The Levites twenty years of age or older were put in charge of rebuilding the Temple for the Lord. The Levite Jeshua and his sons and relatives, his brother Kadmiel, the sons of Jeshua Emadabun, the sons of Joda son of Iliadun, and all their sons and relatives — in fact, all the Levites joined together to take charge of the rebuilding of the Temple.While the workers were building the Temple of the Lord,
59. the priests in their robes took their places with trumpets and other musical instruments in their hands, and the Levites of the clan of Asaph stood there with cymbals.
60. They praised the Lord and gave thanks to him according to the instructions handed down from the time of King David.
61. They sang psalms praising the Lord, repeating the refrain: “The goodness of the Lord and his glorious presence are with all Israel for ever.”
62. All the people blew trumpets and shouted with all their might, praising the Lord because the Temple was being rebuilt.
63. Some of the older priests, Levites, and heads of clans had seen the first Temple, and when they came and saw the building of this Temple, they cried and wailed.
64. Others who were there blew trumpets and shouted for joy.
65. The crowd blew the trumpets so loudly that the blast could be heard far away, but no one near by could hear the blast of the trumpets because the sound made by those who were crying and wailing was so loud.
66. The enemies of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin heard the sound of the trumpets and came to see what it meant.
67. When they learnt that those who had returned from exile were rebuilding the Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel,
68. they went to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the heads of the clans, and said, “Let us join you in building the Temple.
69. We worship the same Lord you worship and we have been offering sacrifices to him ever since Esarhaddon, emperor of Assyria, sent us here to live.”
70. Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the heads of clans said to them, “We don't need your help in building the Temple for the Lord our God.
71. We will build it ourselves, just as Cyrus, emperor of Persia, commanded us.”
72. Then the people who had been living in the land began to harass the Jews; they cut off their supplies and kept them from building.