Haggai 1-2

New American Standard Bible 1995

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.

The Builders Encouraged

2 On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came by ^(AB)Haggai the prophet saying, ² “Speak now to ^(AC)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(AD)governor of Judah, and to ^(AE)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the ^(AF)remnant of the people saying, ³ ‘Who is ^(AG)left among you who saw this ^[l]temple in its ^(AH)former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not ^[m]seem to you like nothing ^[n]in comparison? ⁴ But now ^[o](AI)take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for ^(AJ)I am with you,’ declares the Lord of hosts. ⁵ ‘As for the ^[p](AK)promise which I ^[q]made you when you came out of Egypt, ^[r]My ^(AL)Spirit is abiding in your midst; ^(AM)do not fear!’ ⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘^(AN)Once more ^[s]in a ^(AO)little while, I am going to ^(AP)shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ⁷ I will shake ^(AQ)all the nations; and ^[t]they will come with the ^(AR)wealth of all nations, and I will ^(AS)fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁸ ‘The ^(AT)silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts. ⁹ ‘The latter ^(AU)glory of this house will be greater than the ^(AV)former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give ^(AW)peace,’ declares the Lord of hosts.”

¹⁰ On the ^(AX)twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying, ¹¹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘^(AY)Ask now the priests for a ^[u]ruling: ¹² If a man carries ^(AZ)holy meat in the ^[v]fold of his garment, and touches bread with ^[w]this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’” And the priests answered, “No.” ¹³ Then Haggai said, “^(BA)If one who is unclean from a ^[x]corpse touches any of these, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.” ¹⁴ Then Haggai said, “‘^(BB)So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. ¹⁵ But now, do ^[y](BC)consider from this day ^[z]onward: before one ^(BD)stone was placed on another in the temple of the Lord, ^16 [aa]from that time when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty ^[ab]measures, there would be only twenty. ¹⁷ I smote you and every work of your hands with ^(BE)blasting wind, mildew and hail; ^[ac]yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘Do ^[ad](BF)consider from this day ^[ae]onward, from the ^(BG)twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the Lord was ^(BH)founded, ^[af]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 ^(BI)bless you.’”

²⁰ Then the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the ^(BJ)twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, ²¹ “Speak to ^(BK)Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to ^(BL)shake the heavens and the earth. ²² I will ^(BM)overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the ^(BN)power of the kingdoms of the ^[ag]nations; and I will ^(BO)overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the ^(BP)horses and their riders will go down, ^(BQ)everyone by the sword of another.’ ²³ ‘On that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a ^[ah](BR)signet ring, for ^(BS)I have chosen you,’” declares the Lord of hosts.