Haggai Begins Temple Building

1 In the ^(A)second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet ^(B)Haggai to ^(C)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(D)governor of Judah, and to ^(E)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord of ^[a]hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.”’” ³ Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁴ “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house ^(F)lies desolate?” ⁵ Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “^[b]Consider your ways! ⁶ You have ^(G)sown much, but ^[c]harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is ^[d]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 purse with holes.”

⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts, “^[e]Consider your ways! ⁸ Go up to the ^[f]mountains, bring wood and ^(H)rebuild the ^[g]temple, that I may be ^(I)pleased with it and be ^(J)glorified,” says the Lord. ⁹ “^(K)You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I ^(L)blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which ^(M)lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore, because of you the ^(N)sky has withheld ^[h]its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹ I called for a ^(O)drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on ^(P)men, on cattle, and on ^(Q)all the labor of ^[i]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)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 ^[j](U)showed reverence for the Lord. ¹³ Then Haggai, the ^(V)messenger of the Lord, spoke ^[k]by the commission of the Lord to the people saying, “‘^(W)I am with you,’ declares the Lord.” ¹⁴ So the Lord 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)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 Darius the king.

A Call to Repentance

1 In the eighth month of the second year of ^(A)Darius, the word of the Lord came to ^(B)Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of ^(C)Iddo saying, ² “The Lord was very ^(D)angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “^(E)Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. ⁴ “Do not be ^(F)like your fathers, to whom the ^(G)former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “^(H)Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.”’ But they did ^(I)not listen or give heed to Me,” declares the Lord. ⁵ “Your ^(J)fathers, where are they? And the ^(K)prophets, do they live forever? ⁶ But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, ^(L)overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘^(M)As the Lord of hosts purposed to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’”’”

Patrol of the Earth

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows: ⁸ I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a ^(N)red horse, and he was standing among the ^(O)myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and ^(P)white horses behind him. ⁹ Then I said, “My ^(Q)lord, what are these?” And the ^(R)angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” ¹⁰ And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are those whom the Lord has sent to ^[a](S)patrol the earth.” ¹¹ So they answered the angel of the Lord who was ^(T)standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have ^[b]patrolled the earth, and behold, ^(U)all the earth is ^[c]peaceful and quiet.”

¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, ^(V)how long will You ^(W)have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been ^(X)indignant these ^(Y)seventy years?” ¹³ The Lord answered the ^(Z)angel who was speaking with me with ^[d]gracious words, ^(AA)comforting words. ¹⁴ So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “^(AB)Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I am ^(AC)exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. ¹⁵ But I am very ^(AD)angry with the nations who are ^(AE)at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they ^[e](AF)furthered the disaster.” ¹⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord, “I will ^(AG)return to Jerusalem with compassion; My ^(AH)house will be built in it,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and a measuring ^(AI)line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ ¹⁷ Again, proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “My ^(AJ)cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again ^(AK)comfort Zion and again ^(AL)choose Jerusalem.”’”

^18 [f]Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns. ¹⁹ So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the ^(AM)horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.” ²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four ^(AN)craftsmen. ²¹ I said, “What are these coming to do?” And he said, “These are the ^(AO)horns which have scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to terrify them, to ^(AP)throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.

A Psalm of David.

Christ Is Our Advocate

2 ^(A)My little children, I am ^(B)writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, ^(C)we have an ^[a](D)Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and He Himself is ^(E)the ^[b]propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also ^(F)for those of the whole world.

^3 (G)By this we know that we have come to ^(H)know Him, if we ^(I)keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “^(J)I have come to ^(K)know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a ^(L)liar, and ^(M)the truth is not in him; ⁵ but whoever ^(N)keeps His word, in him the ^(O)love of God has truly been perfected. ^(P)By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶ the one who says he ^(Q)abides in Him ^(R)ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

^7 (S)Beloved, I am ^(T)not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had ^(U)from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ^8 [c]On the other hand, I am writing ^(V)a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because ^(W)the darkness is passing away and ^(X)the true Light is already shining. ⁹ The one who says he is in the Light and yet ^(Y)hates his ^(Z)brother is in the darkness until now. ^10 (AA)The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But the one who ^(AB)hates his brother is in the darkness and ^(AC)walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has ^(AD)blinded his eyes.

¹² I am writing to you, ^(AE)little children, because ^(AF)your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(AG)who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because ^(AH)you have overcome ^(AI)the evil one. I have written to you, children, because ^(AJ)you know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(AK)who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are ^(AL)strong, and the ^(AM)word of God abides in you, and ^(AN)you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

¹⁵ Do not love ^(AO)the world nor the things in the world. ^(AP)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, ^(AQ)the lust of the flesh and ^(AR)the lust of the eyes and ^(AS)the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ^17 (AT)The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who ^(AU)does the will of God lives forever.

¹⁸ Children, ^(AV)it is the last hour; and just as you heard that ^(AW)antichrist is coming, ^(AX)even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. ^19 (AY)They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, ^(AZ)so that ^[d]it would be shown that they all are not of us. ^20 [e]But you have an ^(BA)anointing from ^(BB)the Holy One, and ^(BC)you all know. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but ^(BD)because you do know it, and ^[f]because no lie is ^(BE)of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but ^(BF)the one who denies that Jesus is the ^[g]Christ? This is ^(BG)the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (BH)Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ As for you, let that abide in you which you heard ^(BI)from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also ^(BJ)will abide in the Son and in the Father.

The Promise Is Eternal Life

^25 (BK)This is the promise which He Himself ^[h]made to us: eternal life.

²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to ^(BL)deceive you. ²⁷ As for you, the ^(BM)anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing ^(BN)teaches you about all things, and is ^(BO)true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, ^[i]you abide in Him.

²⁸ Now, ^(BP)little children, abide in Him, so that when He ^(BQ)appears, we may have ^(BR)confidence and ^(BS)not ^[j]shrink away from Him in shame ^[k]at His ^(BT)coming. ²⁹ If you know that ^(BU)He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness ^(BV)is ^[l]born of Him.