Haggai 1–2

A Call to Build the House of the Lord

1In the second year of King Darius,^a on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai^b to Zerubbabel^c son of Shealtiel, governor^d of Judah, and to Joshua^ae son of Jozadak,^bf the high priest:^g

²This is what the Lord Almighty^h says: “These peopleⁱ say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.^j’ ”

³Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:^{k 4}“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses,^l while this house remains a ruin?^m”

⁵Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thoughtⁿ to your ways. ⁶You have planted much, but harvested little.^o You eat, but never have enough.^p You drink, but never have your fill.^q You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages,^r only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

⁷This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought^s to your ways. ⁸Go up into the mountains and bring down timber^t and build my house, so that I may take pleasure^u in it and be honored,^v” says the Lord. ⁹“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little.^w What you brought home, I blew^x away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin,^y while each of you is busy with your own house. ¹⁰Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld^z their dew^a and the earth its crops.^{b 11}I called for a drought^c on the fields and the mountains,^d on the grain, the new wine,^e the olive oil^f and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.^g”

¹²Then Zerubbabel^h son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnantⁱ of the people obeyed^j the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared^k the Lord.

¹³Then Haggai,^l the Lord’s messenger,^m gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am withⁿ you,” declares the Lord. ¹⁴So the Lord stirred up^o the spirit of Zerubbabel^p son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak,^q the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant^r of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, ¹⁵on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.^s

The Promised Glory of the New House

In the second year of King Darius,^t

2on the twenty-first day of the seventh month,^u the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:^{v 2}“Speak to Zerubbabel^w son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak,^ax the high priest, and to the remnant^y of the people. Ask them, ³‘Who of you is left who saw this house^z in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?^{a 4}But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong,^b Joshua son of Jozadak,^c the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with^d you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ⁵‘This is what I covenanted^e with you when you came out of Egypt.^f And my Spirit^g remains among you. Do not fear.’^h

⁶“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little whileⁱ I will once more shake the heavens and the earth,^j the sea and the dry land. ⁷I will shake all nations, and what is desired^k by all nations will come, and I will fill this house^l with glory,^m’ says the Lord Almighty. ⁸‘The silver is mine and the goldⁿ is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ⁹‘The glory^o of this present house^p will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,^q’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Blessings for a Defiled People

¹⁰On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,^r in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai: ¹¹“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests^s what the law says: ¹²If someone carries consecrated meat^t in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?^u’ ”

The priests answered, “No.”

¹³Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”

“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.^v”

¹⁴Then Haggai said, “ ‘So it is with this people^w and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer^x there is defiled.

¹⁵“ ‘Now give careful thought^y to this from this day on^b—consider how things were before one stone was laid^z on another in the Lord’s temple.^{a 16}When anyone came to a heap^b of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat^c to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty.^{d 17}I struck all the work of your hands^e with blight,^f mildew and hail,^g yet you did not return^h to me,’ declares the Lord.^{i 18}‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought^j to the day when the foundation^k of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: ¹⁹Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate^l and the olive tree have not borne fruit.^m

“ ‘From this day on I will blessⁿ you.’ ”

Zerubbabel the Lord’s Signet Ring

²⁰The word of the Lord came to Haggai^o a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month:^{p 21}“Tell Zerubbabel^q governor of Judah that I am going to shake^r the heavens and the earth. ²²I will overturn^s royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms.^t I will overthrow chariots^u and their drivers; horses and their riders^v will fall, each by the sword of his brother.^w

²³“ ‘On that day,^x’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant^y Zerubbabel^z son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring,^a for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”