Ezra 3:6 (YLT)

Passage

From the first day of the seventh month they have begun to cause burnt-offerings to ascend to Jehovah, and the temple of Jehovah hath not been founded,

Nearby Context

Ezra 3:4 And they make the feast of the booths as it is written, and the burnt-offering of the day daily in number according to the ordinance, the matter of a day in its day;

Ezra 3:5 and after this a continual burnt-offering, and for new moons, and for all appointed seasons of Jehovah that are sanctified; and for every one who is willingly offering a willing-offering to Jehovah.

Ezra 3:6 From the first day of the seventh month they have begun to cause burnt-offerings to ascend to Jehovah, and the temple of Jehovah hath not been founded,

Ezra 3:7 and they give money to hewers and to artificers, and food, and drink, and oil to Zidonians and to Tyrians, to bring in cedar-trees from Lebanon unto the sea of Joppa, according to the permission of Cyrus king of Persia concerning them.

Ezra 3:8 And in the second year of their coming in unto the house of God, to Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those coming from the captivity to Jerusalem, and they appoint the Levites from a son of twenty years and upward, to overlook the work of the house of Jehovah.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "first", "seventh", "month", "begun", "cause", "burnt-offerings", "ascend", and "jehovah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "first" and "seventh", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "and after this a continual burnt-offering and..." into verse 7's "and they give money to hewers and...", so "first" and "seventh" 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 "first" and "seventh" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.