¹⁴The Lord stirred up Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the rest of the people who were left alive. So they came and worked on the Temple of their God, the Lord All-Powerful. ¹⁵They began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year Darius was king.

The Beauty of the Temple

2On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the Lord spoke his word through Haggai the prophet, saying, ²“Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the rest of the people who are left alive. Say, ³‘Do any of you remember how great the Temple was before it was destroyed? What does it look like now? Doesn’t it seem like nothing to you?’ ⁴But the Lord says, ‘Zerubbabel, be brave. Also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, be brave. And all you people who live in the land, be brave,’ says the Lord. ‘Work, because I am with you,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. ⁵‘I made a promise to you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit is still with you. So don’t be afraid.’

⁶“This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘In a short time I will once again shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. ⁷I will shake all the nations, and they will bring their wealth. Then I will fill this Temple with glory,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. ⁸‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. ⁹‘The new Temple will be greater than the one before,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord All-Powerful.”

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