Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.
Parallel translations
- WEB The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.
- KJV And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,
- NKJV Then the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the descendants of the captivity, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
- NASB And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
- NLT The Temple of God was then dedicated with great joy by the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the people who had returned from exile.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
All the returned exiles dedicated the temple with joy. Restored worship produces wholehearted gladness in God's people.
Overview
Priests, Levites, and the rest of those returned from captivity celebrate the dedication of God's house joyfully. The unity and joy of the whole community reflect the spiritual renewal God's restoration brings. Such corporate joy in God's presence foreshadows the gladness of the church gathered around Christ and the everlasting joy of the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- 2 Chr 7:5And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
- 1 Kgs 8:63And Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the LORD.
- Phil 4:4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
- Ezra 6:22For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.
- John 10:22At that time the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter,
- Ps 122:1A song of ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
- Deut 12:7There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.
- 2 Chr 30:23The whole assembly agreed to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy.
- Neh 7:73So the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with some of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. And by the seventh month the Israelites had settled in their towns.
- 2 Chr 30:26So there was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for nothing like this had happened there since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel.
- Ezra 3:11–12And 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.
- Ezra 4:1When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,
- 1 Chr 9:2Now the first to resettle their own property in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.
- 1 Chr 15:28So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and with cymbals and the music of harps and lyres.
- 2 Chr 7:9–10On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar had lasted seven days, and the feast seven days more.
- Neh 8:10Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
- Neh 12:43On that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.
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Christ at the center
The return from exile and the rebuilt altar keep alive the hope of a greater restoration — the true return from our deeper exile of sin accomplished by Christ.
How Ezra 6:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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