Ezra 3:12 (ASV)

Passage

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers` [houses], the old men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:

Nearby Context

Ezra 3:10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Jehovah, after the order of David king of Israel.

Ezra 3:11 And they sang one to another in praising and giving thanks unto Jehovah, [saying], For he is good, for his lovingkindness [endureth] for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Jehovah, because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid.

Ezra 3:12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers` [houses], the old men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:

Ezra 3:13 so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "priests", "levites", "heads", "fathers", "houses", "seen", and "first". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "priests" and "levites", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And they sang one to another in..." into verse 13's "so that the people could not discern...", so "priests" and "levites" belong inside that flow. In Ezra context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "priests" and "levites" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.