15-17 “‘Think back. Before you set out to lay the first foundation stones for the rebuilding of my Temple, how did it go with you? Isn’t it true that your foot-dragging, halfhearted efforts at rebuilding the Temple of God were reflected in a sluggish, halfway return on your crops—half the grain you were used to getting, half the wine? I hit you with drought and blight and hail. Everything you were doing got hit. But it didn’t seem to faze you. You continued to ignore me.’ God’s Decree.

18-19 “‘Now think ahead from this same date—this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Think ahead from when the Temple rebuilding was launched. Has anything in your fields—vine, fig tree, pomegranate, olive tree—failed to flourish? From now on you can count on a blessing.’”

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17 I struck all the work of your hands(A) with blight,(B) mildew and hail,(C) yet you did not return(D) to me,’ declares the Lord.(E) 18 ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought(F) to the day when the foundation(G) of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate(H) and the olive tree have not borne fruit.(I)

“‘From this day on I will bless(J) you.’”

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