Haggai 1–2

Chapter 1

Haggai Begins Temple Building

¹In the ^asecond year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet ^bHaggai to ^cZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^dgovernor of Judah, and to ^eJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,

²“Thus says the Lord of ¹hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” ’ ”

³Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying,

⁴“Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house ^alies desolate?”

⁵Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “¹Consider your ways!

⁶“You have ^asown much, but ¹harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is ²not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”

⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts, “¹Consider your ways!

⁸“Go up to the ¹mountains, bring wood and ^arebuild the ²temple, that I may be ^bpleased with it and be ^cglorified,” says the Lord.

⁹“^aYou look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I ^bblow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which ^clies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.

¹⁰“Therefore, because of you the ^asky has withheld ¹its dew and the earth has withheld its produce.

¹¹“I called for a ^adrought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on ^bmen, on cattle, and on ^call the labor of ¹your hands.”

¹²Then ^aZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and ^bJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, ^cobeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people ^1dshowed reverence for the Lord.

¹³Then Haggai, the ^amessenger of the Lord, spoke ¹by the commission of the Lord to the people saying, “ ‘^bI am with you,’ declares the Lord.”

¹⁴So the Lord stirred up the spirit of ^aZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the ^bremnant of the people; and they came and ^cworked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,

¹⁵on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.

Chapter 2

The Builders Encouraged

¹On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came by ^aHaggai the prophet saying,

²“Speak now to ^aZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the ^bremnant of the people saying,

³‘Who is ^aleft among you who saw this ¹temple in its ^bformer glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not ²seem to you like nothing ³in comparison?

⁴‘But now ^1atake courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for ^bI am with you,’ declares the Lord of hosts.

⁵‘As for the ^1apromise which I ²made you when you came out of Egypt, ³My ^bSpirit is abiding in your midst; ^cdo not fear!’

⁶“For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘^aOnce more ¹in a ^blittle while, I am going to ^cshake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.

⁷‘I will shake ^aall the nations; and ¹they will come with the ^bwealth of all nations, and I will ^cfill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.

⁸‘The ^asilver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts.

⁹‘The latter ^aglory of this house will be greater than the ^bformer,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give ^cpeace,’ declares the Lord of hosts.”

¹⁰On the ^atwenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying,

¹¹“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘^aAsk now the priests for a ¹ruling:

¹²‘If a man carries ^aholy meat in the ¹fold of his garment, and touches bread with ²this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’ ” And the priests answered, “No.”

¹³Then Haggai said, “^aIf one who is unclean from a ¹corpse touches any of these, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.”

¹⁴Then Haggai said, “ ‘^aSo is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.

¹⁵‘But now, do ^1aconsider from this day ²onward: before one ^bstone was placed on another in the temple of the Lord,

¹⁶¹from that time when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty ²measures, there would be only twenty.

¹⁷‘I smote you and every work of your hands with ^ablasting wind, mildew and hail; ¹yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord.

¹⁸‘Do ^1aconsider from this day ²onward, from the ^btwenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the Lord was ^cfounded, consider:

¹⁹‘Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will ^abless you.’ ”

²⁰Then the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the ^atwenty-fourth day of the month, saying,

²¹“Speak to ^aZerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to ^bshake the heavens and the earth.

²²‘I will ^aoverthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the ^bpower of the kingdoms of the ¹nations; and I will ^coverthrow the chariots and their riders, and the ^dhorses and their riders will go down, ^eeveryone by the sword of another.’

²³‘On that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a ^1asignet ring, for ^bI have chosen you,’ ” declares the Lord of hosts.