UST HAG Chapter 1

1 The prophet Haggai received a message from Yahweh in the second year after Darius had become king of Persia. Haggai received this message on the first day of the sixth month of that year. He told it to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel. Haggai also told the message to the high priest, Joshua the son of Jehozadak. He said, 2 “Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says this: ‘The people of Judah are saying that it is not yet the right time for them to rebuild my temple.’ ” 3 Yahweh then told the prophet Haggai to tell the people this: 4 “It is not right for you to live in comfortable houses while you have still not repaired Yahweh's temple! 5 So this is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, is telling you: ‘Think about what you are doing!

6 You are planting many seeds, but you are not harvesting many crops.

You eat food, but you never get enough to eat.

You drink wine, but you never get enough to satisfy you.

You still have clothes to wear, but they are so worn-out that they no longer keep you warm.

You earn money, but it is not enough to pay your expenses.’ 7 So this is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, is telling you: ‘Think about what you should do differently! 8 Go up into the hills and cut down trees! Bring the timber from them here to Jerusalem and rebuild my temple! This will honor me, and I will be proud of my temple again.’ That is what Yahweh is telling you. 9 Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, is also telling you, ‘There is a reason why you have not grown many crops even though you have planted many seeds. The reason is that I kept the crops from growing. I did that because you have built comfortable homes for yourselves, but you have not repaired my temple. 10 Because you were not repairing my temple, I kept the crops from growing by making it so dry that no rain fell from the sky and there was not even any moisture on the ground in the mornings. 11 I have kept the plants from growing in the fields and on the mountains. I have kept your wheat and barley from growing. I have kept your vines from producing grapes. I have kept your olive trees from producing olives. Even though you worked very hard, you were not able to grow enough food. As a result, both people and animals have not had enough to eat.’ ” 12 The governor of Judah, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, knew that Yahweh their God had told the prophet Haggai to speak this message. The high priest, Joshua the son of Jehozadak, also knew this. The rest of the people who had returned to Judah from exile in Babylon also knew this. And they all respected Yahweh. So they all obeyed the message that Yahweh their God had spoken. 13 Yahweh was pleased that the people had obeyed him. So Yahweh gave Haggai, his messenger, another message to speak to the people. Haggai said, “Yahweh is telling you, ‘I am with you!’ ” 14 This message from Yahweh made the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, want to rebuild the temple. It also made the high priest, Joshua the son of Jehozadak, want to rebuild the temple. It also made the rest of the people want to rebuild the temple. So they all gathered together and started rebuilding the temple of Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, their God. 15 They started the work on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month of the second year that Darius was king of Persia.

HAG C1 C2