The Glory of Yahweh Will Fill the Temple

2 On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of Yahweh came by the hand of ^(A)Haggai the prophet saying, ² “Speak now to ^(B)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(C)governor of Judah, and to ^(D)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the ^(E)remnant of the people saying, ³ ‘Who among you ^(F)remains who saw this house in its ^(G)former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem like nothing in your eyes? ⁴ But now, ^(H)be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares Yahweh, ‘be strong also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land, be strong,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and work; for ^(I)I am with you,’ declares Yahweh of hosts. ⁵ ‘As for the ^[a](J)promise which I cut with you when you came out of Egypt, ^[b]My ^(K)Spirit is standing in your midst; ^(L)do not fear!’ ⁶ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘^(M)Once more—^[c]in a ^(N)little while—I am going to ^(O)shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ⁷ And I will shake ^(P)all the nations; and ^[d]they will come with the ^(Q)desirable things of all nations, and I will ^(R)fill this house with glory,’ says Yahweh of hosts. ⁸ ‘The ^(S)silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ declares Yahweh of hosts. ⁹ ‘The latter ^(T)glory of this house will be greater than the ^(U)former,’ says Yahweh of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give ^(V)peace,’ declares Yahweh of hosts.”

¹⁰ On the ^(W)twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Haggai the prophet, saying, ¹¹ “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘^(X)Ask now the priests about the law: ¹² If a man carries ^(Y)holy meat in the ^[e]fold of his garment and touches bread with ^[f]this fold or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’” And the priests answered, “No.” ¹³ Then Haggai said, “^(Z)If one who is unclean from a ^[g]corpse touches any of these, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.” ¹⁴ Then Haggai answered and said, “‘^(AA)So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they bring near to Me there is unclean. ¹⁵ But now, ^(AB)oh set your heart to consider from this day ^[h]onward: from before one ^(AC)stone was set on another in the temple of Yahweh, ^16 [i]from when it was that one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, then there would be only ten; and from when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty troughs full, then there would be only twenty. ¹⁷ I struck you and every work of your hands with ^(AD)scorching wind, mildew, and hail; ^[j]yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares Yahweh. ¹⁸ ‘^(AE)Oh set your heart to consider from this day ^[k]onward, from the ^(AF)twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of Yahweh was ^(AG)founded, set your heart to consider: ¹⁹ Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will ^(AH)bless you.’”

Yahweh Chooses Zerubbabel

²⁰ Then the word of Yahweh came a second time to Haggai on the ^(AI)twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, ²¹ “Speak to ^(AJ)Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to ^(AK)shake the heavens and the earth. ²² I will ^(AL)overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the ^(AM)strength of the kingdoms of the ^[l]nations; and I will ^(AN)overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the ^(AO)horses and their riders will go down, ^(AP)everyone by the sword of another.’ ²³ ‘On that day,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will make you like a ^[m](AQ)signet ring, for ^(AR)I have chosen you,’” declares Yahweh of hosts.