Resistance to Rebuilding the Temple

4 Now when ^(A)the ^[a]adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel, ² they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him ^(B)since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.” ³ But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, ^(C)“You may do nothing with us to build a ^[b]house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as ^(D)King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” ⁴ Then ^(E)the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, ⁵ and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of ^(F)Darius king of Persia.

Rebuilding of Jerusalem Opposed

⁶ In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷ In the days of ^(G)Artaxerxes also, ^[c]Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabel, and the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the letter was written in ^(H)Aramaic script, and translated into the Aramaic language. ^8 [d]Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes in this fashion:

¹¹ (This is a copy of the letter that they sent him.)

¹⁷ The king sent an answer:

²³ Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease. ²⁴ Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

The Great Apostasy

2 Now, brethren, ^(A)concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ^(B)and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ^2 (C)not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of ^[a]Christ had come. ³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come ^(D)unless the falling away comes first, and ^(E)the man of ^[b]sin is revealed, ^(F)the son of perdition, ⁴ who opposes and ^(G)exalts himself ^(H)above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits ^[c]as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷ For ^(I)the ^[d]mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[e]He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, ^(J)whom the Lord will consume ^(K)with the breath of His mouth and destroy ^(L)with the brightness of His coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is ^(M)according to the working of Satan, with all power, ^(N)signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among ^(O)those who perish, because they did not receive ^(P)the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And ^(Q)for this reason God will send them strong delusion, ^(R)that they should believe the lie, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but ^(S)had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Fast

¹³ But we are ^[f]bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God ^(T)from the beginning ^(U)chose you for salvation ^(V)through ^[g]sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, ¹⁴ to which He called you by our gospel, for ^(W)the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ Therefore, brethren, ^(X)stand fast and hold ^(Y)the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our ^[h]epistle.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, ^(Z)who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and ^(AA)good hope by grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts ^(AB)and ^[i]establish you in every good word and work.

The Command to Build God’s House^(A)

1 In ^(B)the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by ^(C)Haggai the prophet to ^(D)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^(E)Joshua the son of ^(F)Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, ² “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” ’ ”

³ Then the word of the Lord ^(G)came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁴ “Is it ^(H)time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this ^[a]temple to lie in ruins?” ⁵ Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(I)“Consider your ways!

⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! ⁸ Go up to the ^(L)mountains and bring wood and build the ^[b]temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. ^9 (M)“You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, ^(N)I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(O)the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. ¹¹ For I ^(P)called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on ^(Q)all the labor of your hands.”

The People’s Obedience

^12 (R)Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, 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 feared the presence of the Lord. ¹³ Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people, saying, ^(S)“I am with you, says the Lord.” ¹⁴ So ^(T)the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(U)governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; ^(V)and they came and worked 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 King Darius.

The Coming Glory of God’s House

2 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the Lord came ^[c]by Haggai the prophet, saying: ² “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: ^3 (W)‘Who is left among you who saw this ^[d]temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, ^(X)is this not in your eyes as nothing? ⁴ Yet now ^(Y)be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts. ^5 (Z)‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so ^(AA)My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’

⁶ “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AB)‘Once more (it is a little while) ^(AC)I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; ⁷ and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to ^(AD)the ^[e]Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this ^[f]temple with ^(AE)glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁸ ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ^9 (AF)‘The glory of this latter ^[g]temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give ^(AG)peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

The Promise of Rest

4 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, ^(A)let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. ² For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, ^[a]not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. ³ For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ^(C)“And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; ⁵ and again in this place: ^(D)“They shall not enter My rest.”

⁶ Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:

⁸ For if ^[b]Joshua had ^(F)given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. ⁹ There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

The Word Discovers Our Condition

^11 (G)Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is ^(H)living and powerful, and ^(I)sharper than any ^(J)two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is ^(K)a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ^13 (L)And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are ^(M)naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.