Jamque venerat mensis septimus, et erant filii Israël in civitatibus suis: congregatus est ergo populus quasi vir unus in Jerusalem.

And now the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in their cities: and the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.

And now, for the first time since Israel’s home-coming, it was the seventh month of the year; the people, with one consent, had gathered at Jerusalem.

Et surrexit Josue filius Josedec, et fratres ejus sacerdotes, et Zorobabel filius Salathiel, et fratres ejus, et ædificaverunt altare Dei Israël ut offerrent in eo holocautomata, sicut scriptum est in lege Moysi viri Dei.

And Josue the son of Josedec rose up, and his brethren the priests, and Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and his brethren, and they built the altar of the God of Israel that they might offer holocausts upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

Josue son of Josedec and his brother priests, Zorobabel son of Salathiel and his brother chiefs, must bestir themselves; the God of Israel must have an altar built for him, if the law given by his servant Moses was to be obeyed, by the offering of burnt-sacrifice.

Collocaverunt autem altare Dei super bases suas, deterrentibus eos per circuitum populis terrarum: et obtulerunt super illud holocaustum Domino mane et vespere.

And they set the altar of God upon its bases, while the people of the lands round about put them in fear, and they offered upon it a holocaust to the Lord morning and evening.

No more they dared to do, with hostile nations threatening them all around, than erect God’s altar on its ruined base; here, morning and evening, burnt-sacrifice was offered,

Feceruntque solemnitatem tabernaculorum, sicut scriptum est, et holocaustum diebus singulis per ordinem secundum præceptum opus diei in die suo.

And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the holocaust every day orderly according to the commandment, the duty of the day in its day.

and with that daily offering, with the due observance of each day as it came, they held the feast of Tent-dwelling.

Et post hæc holocaustum juge, tam in calendis quam in universis solemnitatibus Domini quæ erant consecratæ, et in omnibus in quibus ultro offerebatur munus Domino.

And afterwards the continual holocaust, both on the new moons, and on all the solemnities of the Lord, that were consecrated, and on all in which a free-will offering was made to the Lord.

After that, burnt-sacrifice went on uninterruptedly, on the feast days set apart for the Lord, and on other days, too, when gifts were brought to the Lord out of devotion.

A primo die mensis septimi cœperunt offerre holocaustum Domino: porro templum Dei nondum fundatum erat.

From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer holocausts to the Lord: but the temple of God was not yet founded.

From the first day of this seventh month onwards the offering of burnt-sacrifice to the Lord began; and still they had not laid the very foundations of God’s temple.

Dederunt autem pecunias latomis et cæmentariis: cibum quoque, et potum, et oleum Sidoniis Tyriisque, ut deferrent ligna cedrina de Libano ad mare Joppe, juxta quod præceperat Cyrus rex Persarum eis.

And they gave money to hewers of stones and to masons: and meat and drink, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Libanus to the sea of Joppe, according to the orders which Cyrus king of the Persians had given them.

But meanwhile, money was being spent on quarrymen and stone-masons; on food, too, and drink, and oil for the men of Tyre and Sidon, who must convey cedar planks from Lebanon by sea to Joppe, in pursuance of the Persian king’s decree.

Anno autem secundo adventus eorum ad templum Dei in Jerusalem, mense secundo, cœperunt Zorobabel filius Salathiel, et Josue filius Josedec, et reliqui de fratribus eorum sacerdotes, et Levitæ, et omnes qui venerant de captivitate in Jerusalem, et constituerunt Levitas a viginti annis et supra, ut urgerent opus Domini.

And in the second year of their coming to the temple of God in Jerusalem, the second month, Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue the son of Josedec, and the rest of their brethren the priests, and the Levites, and all that were come from the captivity to Jerusalem began, and they appointed Levites from twenty years old and upward, to hasten forward the work of the Lord.

And in the second month of the second year after their return to God’s temple at Jerusalem, Zorobabel and Josue with their brethren, priests and Levites and citizens returned from exile, began their task. Levites that were above the age of twenty were appointed to hasten on the execution of the divine command,

Stetitque Josue et filii ejus et fratres ejus, Cedmihel et filii ejus, et filii Juda, quasi vir unus, ut instarent super eos qui faciebant opus in templo Dei: filii Henadad, et filii eorum, et fratres eorum Levitæ.

Then Josue and his sons and his brethren, Cedmihel, and his sons, and the children of Juda, as one man, stood to hasten them that did the work in the temple of God: the sons of Henadad, and their sons, and their brethren the Levites.

and at the head of these Levites, clansmen of Henadad’s clan, were Josue’s clan and Cedmihel’s (and the men of Juda), insisting that they should give the temple workmen no rest.

Fundato igitur a cæmentariis templo Domini, steterunt sacerdotes in ornatu suo cum tubis, et Levitæ filii Asaph in cymbalis, ut laudarent Deum per manus David regis Israël.

And when the masons laid the foundations of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their ornaments with trumpets: and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise God by the hands of David king of Israel.

So at last the masons laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple. There stood the priests in full array with their trumpets; there stood the Levites, come down from Asaph, with their cymbals, ready to praise God as David bade them, that long ago was king of all Israel.

Et concinebant in hymnis, et confessione Domino: Quoniam bonus, quoniam in æternum misericordia ejus super Israël. Omnis quoque populus vociferabatur clamore magno in laudando Dominum, eo quod fundatum esset templum Domini.

And they sung together hymns, and praise to the Lord: because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, praising the Lord, because the foundations of the temple of the Lord were laid.

And as their hymn of praise went up to the Lord, The Lord is gracious, his mercy to Israel endures for ever, the whole people raised a great shout, thanking the Lord that now the foundation of his temple was laid.

Plurimi etiam de sacerdotibus et Levitis, et principes patrum, et seniores, qui viderant templum prius cum fundatum esset, et hoc templum, in oculis eorum, flebant voce magna: et multi vociferantes in lætitia, elevabant vocem.

But many of the priests and the Levites, and the chief of the fathers and the ancients that had seen the former temple; when they had the foundation of this temple before their eyes, wept with a loud voice: and many shouting for joy, lifted up their voice.

Among the priests and Levites and chiefs of clans there were many older men who had seen the earlier temple when it stood built there. In their eyes, that was the Temple, and they cried aloud in lament, while these others shouted and huzza’d for joy.

Nec poterat quisquam agnoscere vocem clamoris lætantium, et vocem fletus populi: commistim enim populus vociferabatur clamore magno, et vox audiebatur procul.

So that one could not distinguish the voice of the shout of joy, from the noise of the weeping of the people: for one with another the people shouted with a loud shout, and the voice was heard afar off.

Shouts of folk rejoicing, and cries of folk lamenting, none could tell them apart; it was all a confused uproar of men’s voices, that echoed far away.