Add parallel Print Page Options

10 (A)While the builders were laying the foundation of the Lord’s temple, the priests in their vestments were stationed with trumpets and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals to praise the Lord in the manner laid down by David, king of Israel. 11 (B)They alternated in songs of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, “for he is good, for his love for Israel endures forever”;[a] and all the people raised a great shout of joy, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s house had been laid. 12 (C)Many of the priests, Levites, and heads of ancestral houses, who were old enough to have seen the former house, cried out in sorrow as they watched the foundation of the present house being laid. Many others, however, lifted up their voices in shouts of joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from the sound of those who were weeping; for the people raised a mighty clamor which was heard far away.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 3:11 “For he is good…forever”: a refrain occurring frequently in liturgies of ancient Israel (cf. Ps 136).