Haggai

11In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh was by the hand of Haggai the prophet to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak, saying, 2“Thus says Yahweh of Armies, saying: ‘This people, they say, “The time has not come to rebuild the house of Yahweh.”’” 3Then the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, 4“{Is it} a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house {is} desolate? 5So now, thus says Yahweh of Armies: ‘Set your heart upon your ways!

6You have sown much, but you have brought in little.

You eat, but not to satiety.

You drink, but not {enough} to become drunk.

One wears clothes, but he does not warm himself.

And the wage earner earns wages into a punctured bag!’ 7Thus says Yahweh of Armies: ‘Set your heart upon your ways!

8Go up {to} the mountain and bring timber and build the house,

and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,’ says Yahweh.

9‘You looked for much, but behold, little!

And you brought {it} home, but I blew upon it!

Because of what?’—the declaration of Yahweh of Armies.

‘Because of my house, that it {is} desolate,

but you are running, a man to his house.

10Therefore the heavens above you refrain from dew

and the earth withholds its produce.

11And I have called for desolation upon the land and upon the mountains

and upon the grain and upon the new wine

and upon the oil and upon what the ground produces

and upon the man and upon the beast

and upon all the labor of {your} hands!’”

12Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all of the remnant of the people listened to the voice of Yahweh their God and to the words of Haggai the prophet, because Yahweh their God had sent him and the people feared the face of Yahweh. 13Then Haggai, the messenger of Yahweh, spoke the message of Yahweh to the people, saying, “‘I {am} with you!’—the declaration of Yahweh.” 14And Yahweh awakened the spirit of the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all of the remnant of the people, and they came and did the work on the house of Yahweh of Armies, their God, 15on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king,

21in the seventh, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of Yahweh was by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, 2“Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 3‘Who is the one left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How are you seeing it now? Compared with that, {is it} not like nothing in your eyes? 4But now, be strong, Zerubbabel!’—the declaration of Yahweh—‘and be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, you high priest, and be strong, all people of the land!’—the declaration of Yahweh—‘and work, for I {am} with you!’—the declaration of Yahweh of Armies. 5‘The word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit remains in your midst. Do not fear!’ 6For thus says Yahweh of Armies: ‘Yet once, it {will be} a little {while},

and I {will be} shaking the heavens and the earth

and the sea and the dry land!

7And I will shake all of the nations,

and they will come {with} the treasure of all of the nations,

and I will fill this house {with} glory,’ says Yahweh of Armies. 8‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine’—the declaration of Yahweh of Armies. 9‘The latter glory of this house {will be} greater than the former,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and in this place I will give peace’—the declaration of Yahweh of Armies.”

10On the twenty-fourth of the ninth, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh was to Haggai the prophet, saying, 11“Thus says Yahweh of Armies: ‘Now ask the priests {about} the law, saying, 12“If a man carries holy flesh in the fold of his garment and he touches with his fold upon bread or upon stew or upon wine or upon oil or upon any food, does it become holy?”’” And the priests answered and said, “No.” 13Then Haggai said, “If the unclean by a person touches any of these, will it be unclean?” And the priests answered and said, “It will be unclean.” 14And Haggai answered and said, “‘Thus {is} this people and thus {is} this nation to my face!’—the declaration of Yahweh—‘and thus {is} every work of their hands, and what they offer there, it {is} unclean! 15And now, do set your hearts from before until this day, from before the placing of stone upon stone in the temple of Yahweh. 16From their being, one came to a heap of twenty but there were ten; one came to a vat to draw out fifty {from} the press but there were twenty. 17I struck you with blight and with mildew and with hail, all of the work of your hands, but it was not you to me’—the declaration of Yahweh. 18‘Now set your hearts from before until this day, from the day that the temple of Yahweh was founded until this twenty-fourth day of the ninth. Set your hearts! 19{Is} the seed yet in the storehouse? And the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate tree and the olive tree have not yet produced! From this day I will bless {you}!’”

20And the word of Yahweh was to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth of the month, saying, 21“Speak to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, saying,

‘I {am} shaking the heavens and the earth.

22And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms

and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations!

And I will overthrow the chariot and its rider,

and the horses and their riders will fall,

a man by the sword of his brother.

23On that day’—the declaration of Yahweh of Armies—‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant’—the declaration of Yahweh— ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you’—the declaration of Yahweh of Armies!”