The temple foundation laid
In the second year of the return the foundation of the new temple was laid; the young shouted for joy while old men who remembered Solomon's temple wept aloud.
They sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, “For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel.” All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of Yahweh’s house had been laid.
Ezra 3:11 (World English Bible)
The priests blew trumpets, the Levites clashed cymbals, and the people sang David's refrain that God is good and his love endures forever. The sounds of joy and weeping mixed so that no one could tell them apart.
Places
Ancient witnesses outside the Bible
Historical sources, not Scripture.
- 1 Esdras 5:47–65 — as 1 Esdras retells it
Dating notes
The second month of the second year after the return (Ezra 3:8), 535 BC in Ussher.