1In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of the prophet Haggai, saying, “Say to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, from the tribe of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the great priest, saying, 2 ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says, saying, “These people are saying, ‘The time to build the house of the Lord has not come.’ ” ’ ” 3 And the word of the Lord came by the hand of the prophet Haggai, saying, 4 “Is it time for you to live in your homes with supports while your house is desolate?” 5 And now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Examine now your hearts in regard to your ways. 6 You have sown much, and you have gathered little; and you have not eaten to satiety. You have drunk and not to drunkenness, clothed yourself and not been warmed by them, and the one who gathers wages has gathered them into a bag full of holes.” 7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Set your hearts on your ways. 8 Climb up into the mountain, and cut down trees, and build the house, and I shall be pleased with it, and I shall be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 “You have looked for much, and little came, and it was carried to your home, and I have blown it away.” Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Because my house is desolate, but as for you, you each flee to his house. 10 On account of this the heavens shall withhold dew, and the earth shall withdraw its produce. 11 And I shall bring a sword against the land and against the mountains and against the grain and against the wine and against the oil, and as much as the land brings forth, and against humans and against the animals and against all the labors of their hands.” 12 And Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, from the tribe of Judah, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the great priest, and all the remaining people heard the voice of the Lord, their God, and the words of the prophet Haggai, since the Lord, their God, had sent him to them; and the people were afraid before the face of the Lord. 13 And Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, said among the messengers of the Lord to the people, “ ‘I am with you,’ says the Lord.” 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, from the tribe of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the great priest, and the spirit of the rest of all the people; and they went into, and were doing work in, the house of the Lord Almighty,
2their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius. In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the Lord spoke by the hand of the prophet Haggai, saying, 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, from the tribe of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the great priest, and to all the remaining people, saying, 3 ‘Who of you is one who saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Just like it does not exist before your face? 4 And now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord. ‘And be strong, Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the great priest, and be strong, all the people of the land,’ says the Lord. ‘And work, because I am with you,’ says the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘And my spirit is placed in your midst; take courage!’ 6 Because the Lord Almighty says, ‘Once again I shall shake heaven and earth and sea and dry land. 7 And I shall shake all nations, and selected people of all nations shall come and fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ says the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘Because the latter glory of this house shall be great beyond the former,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I shall give peace,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘even peace of spirit for a possession to all those who build, so as to raise up this temple.’ ” The Corrupting Effect of Sin [1] 10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai, saying, 11 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests for a ruling, saying, 12 “If a person should take holy meat in the hem of his garment, and the hem of his garment should touch bread or anything boiled or wine or olive oil or any food, will it become holy?” ’ ” And the priests answered and said, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If an impure person who is defiled in soul should touch any of these, will he be defiled?” And the priests answered and said, “He will be defiled.” 14 And Haggai answered and said, “ ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before my face,’ says the Lord. ‘And so is all the work of their hands. And whoever should come near to that place shall be defiled for the sake of their early gains. They shall suffer because of their toils. And you hated those who rebuke at the gates. 15 And now indeed set in your hearts from this day onward, before laying a stone on a stone in the temple of the Lord, [2] 16 who you were when you used to throw twenty satas of barley into a corn bin and it became ten satas of barley, and you used to enter into the wine vat to draw out fifty measures and twenty came. 17 I struck you, all the works of your hands with dearth, and with a blasting wind, and with hail, but you have not returned to me,’ says the Lord. 18 ‘Now subject your hearts from this day, and from now on, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, and from the day when the temple of the Lord was founded, consider in your hearts 19 whether anything will be recognized on the threshing floor; whether the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate tree and the olive trees, those that do not bear fruit, will be recognized; but from this day I shall bless you.’ ” Zerubbabel, the Seal 20 And the word of the Lord came a second time to the prophet Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 21 “Say to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, from the tribe of Judah, saying, ‘I am shaking heaven and earth and the sea and dry land. 22 And I shall overturn the thrones of kings and destroy the power of the kings of the nations, and I shall overturn the chariots and riders, and throw down horses and their riders, each with a sword against his brother. 23 On that day,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘I shall take you, O Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, my servant,’ says the Lord. ‘And I shall place you like a seal, for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord Almighty.”