Give the King Your Justice

Of ^(A)Solomon.

The Command to Rebuild the Temple

1 ^(A)In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to ^(B)Zerubbabel the son of ^(C)Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^(D)Joshua the son of ^(E)Jehozadak, the high priest: ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” ³ Then the word of the Lord came ^(F)by the hand of Haggai the prophet, ^4 (G)“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while ^(H)this house lies in ruins? ⁵ Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(I)Consider your ways. ^6 (J)You have sown much, and harvested little. ^(K)You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who ^(L)earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(M)Consider your ways. ⁸ Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that ^(N)I may take pleasure in it and that ^(O)I may be glorified, says the Lord. ^9 (P)You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, ^(Q)I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house ^(R)that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(S)the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹ And ^(T)I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on ^(U)the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and ^(V)on all their labors.”

The People Obey the Lord

^12 (W)Then ^(X)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and ^(Y)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all ^(Z)the remnant of the people, 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 feared the Lord. ¹³ Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, ^(AA)“I am with you, declares the Lord.” ¹⁴ And ^(AB)the Lord stirred up the spirit of ^(AC)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of ^(AD)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all ^(AE)the remnant of the people. And they came and ^(AF)worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, ^15 (AG)on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

The Coming Glory of the Temple

2 ^(AH)In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: ² “Speak now to ^(AI)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^(AJ)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, ^3 (AK)‘Who is left among you who saw this house ^(AL)in its former glory? How do you see it now? ^(AM)Is it not as nothing in your eyes? ⁴ Yet now ^(AN)be strong, O ^(AO)Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. ^(AP)Be strong, O ^(AQ)Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ^(AR)Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. ^(AS)Work, for ^(AT)I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, ^5 (AU)according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. ^(AV)My Spirit remains in your midst. ^(AW)Fear not. ⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AX)Yet once more, in a little while, ^(AY)I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. ⁷ And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and ^(AZ)I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. ^8 (BA)The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. ^9 (BB)The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And ^(BC)in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

Blessings for a Defiled People

^10 (BD)On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ^(BE)in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, ¹¹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(BF)Ask the priests about the law: ¹² ‘If someone carries ^(BG)holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, ^(BH)“No.” ¹³ Then Haggai said, ^(BI)“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body ^(BJ)touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” ¹⁴ Then Haggai answered and said, ^(BK)“So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. ¹⁵ Now then, ^(BL)consider from this day onward.^[a] Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, ¹⁶ how did you fare? ^(BM)When^[b] one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. ^17 (BN)I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, ^(BO)yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. ^18 (BP)Consider from this day onward, ^(BQ)from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since ^(BR)the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, ^(BS)consider: ^19 (BT)Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on ^(BU)I will bless you.”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

²⁰ The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai ^(BV)on the twenty-fourth day of the month, ²¹ “Speak to ^(BW)Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ^(BX)I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, ²² and ^(BY)to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and ^(BZ)overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, ^(CA)every one by the sword of his brother. ²³ On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O ^(CB)Zerubbabel ^(CC)my servant, the son of ^(CD)Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you ^(CE)like a^[c] signet ring, ^(CF)for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”

Greeting

¹ Jude, a servant^[a] of Jesus Christ and brother of James,

^(A)To those who are called, ^(B)beloved in God the Father and ^(C)kept for^[b] Jesus Christ:

² May ^(D)mercy, ^(E)peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Judgment on False Teachers

³ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our ^(F)common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you ^(G)to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For ^(H)certain people ^(I)have crept in unnoticed ^(J)who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert ^(K)the grace of our God into sensuality and ^(L)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵ Now I want ^(M)to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that ^(N)Jesus, who saved^[c] a people out of the land of Egypt, ^(O)afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And ^(P)the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— ⁷ just as ^(Q)Sodom and Gomorrah and ^(R)the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and ^(S)pursued unnatural desire,^[d] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

⁸ Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and ^(T)blaspheme the glorious ones. ⁹ But when ^(U)the archangel ^(V)Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing ^(W)about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ^(X)“The Lord rebuke you.” ^10 (Y)But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in ^(Z)the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain ^(AA)to Balaam's error and ^(AB)perished in Korah's rebellion. ¹² These are hidden reefs^{[e] (AC)}at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, ^(AD)shepherds feeding themselves; ^(AE)waterless clouds, ^(AF)swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, ^(AG)uprooted; ^13 (AH)wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of ^(AI)their own shame; ^(AJ)wandering stars, ^(AK)for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴ It was also about these that Enoch, ^(AL)the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ^(AM)“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, ^15 (AN)to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have ^(AO)committed in such an ungodly way, and of all ^(AP)the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ¹⁶ These are grumblers, malcontents, ^(AQ)following their own sinful desires; ^(AR)they are loud-mouthed boasters, ^(AS)showing favoritism to gain advantage.

A Call to Persevere

¹⁷ But you must ^(AT)remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ They^[f] said to you, ^(AU)“In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” ¹⁹ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, ^(AV)devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, ^(AW)building yourselves up in your most holy faith and ^(AX)praying in the Holy Spirit, ^21 (AY)keep yourselves in the love of God, ^(AZ)waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on those who doubt; ²³ save others by ^(BA)snatching them out of ^(BB)the fire; to others show mercy ^(BC)with fear, hating even ^(BD)the garment^[g] stained by the flesh.

Doxology

^24 (BE)Now to him who is able ^(BF)to keep you from stumbling and ^(BG)to present you ^(BH)blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵ to ^(BI)the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, ^(BJ)be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time^[h] and now and forever. Amen.