Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of Praise

145 I will praise You, my God and King. I will honor Your name forever and ever. ² I will honor You every day, and praise Your name forever and ever. ³ The Lord is great and our praise to Him should be great. He is too great for anyone to understand. ⁴ Families of this time will praise Your works to the families-to-come. They will tell about Your powerful acts. ⁵ I will think about the shining-greatness of Your power and about Your great works.

¹⁷ The Lord is right and good in all His ways, and kind in all His works. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. ¹⁹ He will fill the desire of those who fear Him. He will also hear their cry and will save them. ²⁰ The Lord takes care of all who love Him. But He will destroy all the sinful. ²¹ My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. And all flesh will honor His holy name forever and ever.

Word Is Given to Build the House of God

1 On the first day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king, the Word of the Lord came to Haggai. The Word was for Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ruler of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the head religious leader, saying, ² “This is what the Lord of All says: ‘These people say, “The time has not yet come to build again the house of the Lord.”’” ³ Then the Word of the Lord came by Haggai the man of God, saying, ⁴ “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your houses with walls covered with wood, while this house lies waste?” ⁵ Now the Lord of All says, “Think about your ways! ⁶ You have planted much, but gather little. You eat, but there is not enough to fill you. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothing, but no one is warm enough. You earn money, but put it into a bag with holes.”

⁷ The Lord of All says, “Think about your ways! ⁸ Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build again the house of God, that I may be pleased with it and worshiped as I should be,” says the Lord. ⁹ “You look for much, but it turns out to be little. When you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” says the Lord of All. “Because My house lies waste, while each of you takes care of his own house. ¹⁰ So the sky has held back the water on the grass in the early morning because of you, and the earth has held back its food. ¹¹ I have called for a time without rain on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on the vegetables, on men, on cattle, and on all the work of your hands.”

The People Obey

¹² Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the head religious leader, and all the rest of the people of Israel, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God. They obeyed the words of Haggai the man of God, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people honored the Lord with fear. ¹³ Then Haggai the man of God spoke for the Lord to the people, saying, “I am with you,” says the Lord. ¹⁴ So the Lord moved the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ruler of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the head religious leader, and the spirit of all the rest of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of All, their God. ¹⁵ This was on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.

They Ask Jesus Who Gave Him the Power to Do These Things ^(A)

20 As He was teaching and preaching the Good News, the religious leaders and the teachers of the Law and the elders came. ² They said to Him, “Tell us, by what right and power are You doing these things? Who gave You the right and the power?” ³ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question also. You answer Me. ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”

⁵ They said to themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ then all the people will throw stones at us because they believe John was one who spoke for God.” ⁷ They said that they did not know where John’s baptism came from. ⁸ Jesus said to them, “And I will not tell you where I get the right and the power to do these things.”