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The Commission to Rebuild the Temple

In the (A)second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of [a]Yahweh came by the hand of (B)Haggai the prophet to (C)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, (D)governor of Judah, and to (E)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, “Thus says Yahweh of [b]hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of Yahweh to be rebuilt.”’” Then the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, “Is it time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses while this house (F)lies waste?” So now, thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Set your heart to consider your ways! You have (G)sown much, but bring in little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is [c]not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Set your heart to consider your ways! Go up to the [d]mountains and bring wood and (H)rebuild the house of God, that I may be (I)pleased with it and be (J)glorified,” says Yahweh. (K)You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; and you bring it home, and I (L)blow it away. Why?” declares Yahweh of hosts, “Because of My house which (M)lies waste, while each of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the (N)sky has restrained [e]its dew and the earth has restrained its produce. 11 And I called for a [f](O)drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on (P)men, on cattle, and on (Q)all the labor of [g]your hands.”

12 Then (R)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and (S)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, (T)listened to the voice of Yahweh their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Yahweh their God had sent him. And the people (U)feared Yahweh. 13 Then Haggai, the (V)messenger of Yahweh, spoke by the commissioned message of Yahweh to the people saying, “‘(W)I am with you,’ declares Yahweh.” 14 So Yahweh stirred up the spirit of (X)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, (Y)governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the (Z)remnant of the people; and they came and (AA)did work on the house of Yahweh of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.

Footnotes

  1. Haggai 1:1 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
  2. Haggai 1:2 Lit hosts, saying
  3. Haggai 1:6 Lit not becoming drunk
  4. Haggai 1:8 Lit mountain
  5. Haggai 1:10 Lit from dew
  6. Haggai 1:11 Or waste, cf. 1:4, 9
  7. Haggai 1:11 Lit the palms

Command to Rebuild the Temple

In the second year of King Darius,[a](A) on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet(B) Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,(C) the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:(D)

“The Lord of Armies says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.”(E)

The word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses,(F) while this house[b] lies in ruins?” Now, the Lord of Armies says this: “Think carefully(G) about[c] your ways:

You have planted much
but harvested little.
You eat
but never have enough to be satisfied.
You drink
but never have enough to be happy.
You put on clothes
but never have enough to get warm.
The wage earner puts his wages
into a bag with a hole in it.”(H)

The Lord of Armies says this: “Think carefully about your ways. Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house; and I will be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined[d] it. Why?” This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. “Because my house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.

10 So on your account,[e]
the skies have withheld the dew
and the land its crops.(I)
11 I have summoned a drought
on the fields and the hills,
on the grain, new wine, fresh oil,
and whatever the ground yields,
on people and animals,
and on all that your hands produce.”

The People’s Response

12 Then Zerubbabel(J) son of Shealtiel, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the entire remnant of the people(K) obeyed the Lord their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. So the people feared the Lord.(L)

13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, delivered the Lord’s message to the people: “I am with you(M)—this is the Lord’s declaration.”

14 The Lord roused the spirit(N) of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the spirit of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. They began work on the house of the Lord of Armies, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 King of Persia reigned 522–486 BC
  2. 1:4 = the temple
  3. 1:5 Lit Place your heart on, also in v. 7
  4. 1:9 Lit blew on
  5. 1:10 Or So above you