Haggai 1:1–2:23

Haggai Begins Temple Building

1 In 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.” ’ ”

3 Then 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?”

5 Now 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.”

7 Thus 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.”

12 Then 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.

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

14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of aZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, agovernor 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,

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

Chapter 2

The Builders Encouraged

1 On 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, agovernor of Judah, and to aJoshua 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.”

10 On 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.”

13 Then 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.”

14 Then 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,

16 1from 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, 1consider:

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.’ ”

20 Then 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.