Then Haggai answered and said, “ ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.

Promised Blessing

‘And now, carefully consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the Lord—

since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty.

I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me,’ says the Lord.

Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you.’ ”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying,

“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: ‘I will shake heaven and earth.

I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow the chariots And those who ride in them; The horses and their riders shall come down, Every one by the sword of his brother.

‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, ‘and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”