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Call to Rebuild the Temple

On the first day of the sixth month of the second year of the reign of[a] King Darius, this message from the Lord came by[b] Haggai[c] the prophet to Shealtiel’s son Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and to Jehozadak’s son Joshua, the high priest:

“This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘These people keep saying, “No, the right[d] time for rebuilding the Lord’s Temple has not yet come.”’”

Then this message from the Lord came by[e] Haggai the prophet: “Is it the right[f] time for all of you to live in your own paneled houses while this house remains in ruins?”

Consequences of Not Rebuilding

“Now this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, says: ‘Carefully consider your ways:

You have sowed much
    but have reaped little.
You have eaten
    but don’t have enough to become satisfied.
You have drunk
    but don’t have enough to become intoxicated.
You have clothed yourself
    but don’t have enough to keep warm.
And the hired laborer deposits his salary
    in a bag full of holes!’”

Command to Rebuild the Temple

“This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘Carefully consider your ways: Go up into the mountains, bring timber, and reconstruct my house. Then I will be pleased with it and I will be honored,’ says the Lord. ‘You turned away in pursuit of abundance, but look at how little you found![g] What you did manage to bring home, I blew away! And why?’ declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. ‘It’s because of my house! It lies in ruins while each of you runs off to his own house! 10 That is why the heavens keep withholding dew from you, and the earth withholds her fruit. 11 I sent a drought on the land, on the mountains, on your grain, on your new wines, on your oil—on everything the ground produces—on men, on livestock, and on everything you do![h]’”

The People Obey

12 Then Shealtiel’s son Zerubbabel, Jehozadak’s son Joshua the high priest, and all the rest[i] of the people obeyed the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. 13 Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with a special commission[j] from the Lord: “‘I am with you,’ declares the Lord.”

14 Then the Lord revitalized the spirit of Shealtiel’s son Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, the spirit of Jehozadak’s son Joshua the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest[k] of the people, so they came and began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. 15 This took place on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month of the second year of the reign of[l] King Darius.

Footnotes

  1. Haggai 1:1 The Heb. lacks the reign of
  2. Haggai 1:1 Lit. by the hand of
  3. Haggai 1:1 The Heb. name Haggai means festive
  4. Haggai 1:2 The Heb. lacks right
  5. Haggai 1:3 Lit. by the hand of
  6. Haggai 1:4 The Heb. lacks right
  7. Haggai 1:9 The Heb. lacks you found
  8. Haggai 1:11 Lit. every product of your labor
  9. Haggai 1:12 Or the whole remnant
  10. Haggai 1:13 Or message
  11. Haggai 1:14 Or the whole remnant
  12. Haggai 1:15 The Heb. lacks the reign of

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.

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

Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?

Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.

Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.

10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.

11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed 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 did fear before the Lord.

13 Then spake Haggai the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord.

14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,

15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.