Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first house of Yahweh, were weeping with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many in loud shouts with gladness were raising their voice,
Ezra 3:10 So the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Yahweh. Then the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Yahweh according to the directions of King David of Israel.
Ezra 3:11 And they sang, praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness endures forever upon Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised Yahweh because the foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid.
Ezra 3:12 Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first house of Yahweh, were weeping with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many in loud shouts with gladness were raising their voice,
Ezra 3:13 so that the people could not distinguish the voices of the shouting of gladness from the voices of the weeping of the people, for the people were shouting with a loud shout, and those voices were heard far away.
The verse centers on "priests", "levites", "heads", "fathers", "households", "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 praising and giving thanks..." into verse 13's "so that the people could not distinguish...", 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.