Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Exalted for His Goodness.

A Psalm of Praise, of David.

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 “This is what the Lord of armies ^[a]says: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, 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 live in your paneled houses while this house remains ^(F)desolate?” ⁵ Now then, the Lord of armies says this: “^[b]Consider your ways! ⁶ You have ^(G)sown much, only to ^[c]harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but there is not enough for ^[d]anyone to get warm; and the one who earns, earns wages to put into a money bag full of holes.”

⁷ The Lord of armies says this: “^[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)honored,” says the Lord. ⁹ “^(K)You ^[h]start an ambitious project, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I ^(L)blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of armies. “It is because of My house which ^(M)remains desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore, because of you the ^(N)sky has withheld ^[i]its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹ And 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)mankind, on cattle, and on ^(Q)all the products of the labor of ^[j]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, just as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people ^[k](U)showed reverence for the Lord. ¹³ Then Haggai, the ^(V)messenger of the Lord, spoke ^[l]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 armies, their God, ¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

20 ^(A)On one of the days while ^(B)He was teaching the people in the temple and ^(C)preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^(D)confronted Him, ² and they declared, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ But He replied to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a ^(E)prophet.” ⁷ And so they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”