Haggai 1

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Command to Rebuild the Temple

1 In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:^(A) ²“Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.” ³Then the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: ⁴“Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?^(B) ⁵Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared.^(C) ⁶You have sown much and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.^(D)

⁷“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. ⁸Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.^(E) ⁹You have looked for much, but it came to little, and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses.^(F) ¹⁰Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.^(G) ¹¹And I have called for a drought^[a] on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on humans and animals, and on all their labors.”^(H)

¹²Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua 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 the prophet Haggai, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people feared the Lord.^(I) ¹³Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, saying, “I am with you, says the Lord.”^(J) ¹⁴And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,^(K) ¹⁵on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.

The Future Glory of the Temple

In the second year of King Darius,

Footnotes

1.11 Or ruin

Haggai 1

Common English Bible

The challenge to rebuild

1 The Lord’s word came through Haggai the prophet in the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month on the first day of the month, to Judah’s governor Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, and to the high priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son:

²This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says:
These people say, “The time hasn’t come,
the time to rebuild the Lord’s house.”

³Then the Lord’s word came through Haggai the prophet:

⁴        Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses
            while this house lies in ruins?
⁵So now, this is what the Lord of heavenly forces says:
    Take your ways to heart.
⁶    You have sown much, but it has brought little.
    You eat, but there’s not enough to satisfy.
    You drink, but not enough to get drunk.
    There is clothing, but not enough to keep warm.
    Anyone earning wages puts those wages into a bag with holes.

⁷This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says:
    Take your ways to heart.
⁸    Go up to the highlands and bring back wood.
    Rebuild the temple so that I may enjoy it
        and that I may be honored, says the Lord.
⁹You expect a surplus, but look how it shrinks.
You bring it home, and I blow it away, says the Lord of heavenly forces,
        because my house lies in ruins.
But all of you hurry to your own houses.
¹⁰Therefore, the skies above you have withheld the dew,
        and the earth has withheld its produce because of you.
¹¹I have called for drought on the earth,
        on the mountains, on the grain,
        on the wine, on the olive oil,
        on that which comes forth from the fertile ground,
        on humanity, on beasts,
        and upon everything that handles produce.

¹²Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, and the high priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son, along with all who remained among the people, listened to the voice of the Lord God and to the words of Haggai the prophet because the Lord their God sent him. Then the people feared the Lord.

¹³Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the Lord’s message to the people:

I am with you, says the Lord.

¹⁴The Lord moved the spirit of Judah’s governor Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, and the spirit of the high priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son, and the spirit of all the rest of the people. Then they came and did work on the house of the Lord of heavenly forces, their God, ¹⁵on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

Common English Bible (CEB)

Haggai 1 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition