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Haggai 1

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,2 Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, This people say, It is not the time for us to come, the time for Jehovah’s house to be built.3 Then came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying,4 Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses, while this house lieth waste?5 Now therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider your ways.6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.7 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider your ways.8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith Jehovah.9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith Jehovah of hosts. Because of my house that lieth waste, while ye run every man to his own house.10 Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholdeth its fruit.11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Jehovah their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God had sent him; and the people did fear before Jehovah.13 Then spake Haggai Jehovah’s messenger in Jehovah’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith Jehovah.14 And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work on the house of Jehovah of hosts, their God,15 in the four and twentieth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

HAGGAI 1

Rebuild the Temple

1  t On the first day of the sixth month of the second year that Darius was king of Persia, t the [Lord] told Haggai the prophet to speak his message to the governor of Judah and to the high priest.
So Haggai told Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshuat

2-5 that the [Lord] All-Powerful had said to them and to the people:
You say this isn't the right time to build a temple for me. But is it right for you to live in expensive houses, t while my temple is a pile of ruins? Just look at what's happening.

6 You harvest less than you plant, you never have enough to eat or drink, your clothes don't keep you warm, and your wages are stored in bags full of holes.
7 Think about what I have said! 8 But first, go to the hills and get wood for my temple, so I can take pride in it and be worshiped there. 9 You expected much, but received only a little. And when you brought it home, I made that little disappear. Why have I done this? It's because you hurry off to build your own houses, while my temple is still in ruins. 10 That's also why the dew doesn't fall and your harvest fails.

11 And so, at my command everything will become barren—your farmland and pastures, your vineyards and olive trees, your animals and you yourselves. All your hard work will be for nothing.
12 Zerubbabel and Joshua, together with the others who had returned from exile in Babylonia, obeyed the [Lord]'s message spoken by his prophet Haggai, and they started showing proper respect for the [Lord]. 13 Haggai then told them that the [Lord] had promised to be with them. 14 So the [Lord] God All-Powerful made everyone eager to work on his temple, especially Zerubbabel and Joshua. 15 And the work began on the twenty-fourth day of that same month.