¹In the second year of Darius the king , in the sixth month , in the first day of the month , the LORD ’s word came by Haggai the prophet , to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel , governor of Judah , and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak , the high priest , saying ,[#1:1 When rendered in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, “” or “GOD” is the translation of God’s Proper Name (Hebrew “”, usually pronounced Yahweh).]

²“This is what the LORD of Armies says : These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come , the time for the LORD ’s house to be built .’”

³Then the LORD ’s word came by Haggai the prophet , saying ,

⁴“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses , while this house lies waste ?

⁵Now therefore this is what the LORD of Armies says : ‘Consider your ways .

⁶You have sown much , and bring in little . You eat, but you don’t have enough . You drink , but you aren’t filled with drink . You clothe yourselves , but no one is warm ; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it .’

⁷“This is what the LORD of Armies says : ‘Consider your ways .

⁸Go up to the mountain , bring wood , and build the house . I will take pleasure in it , and I will be glorified ,” says the LORD .

⁹“You looked for much , and , behold , it came to little ; and when you brought it home , I blew it away . Why ?” says the LORD of Armies , “Because of my house that lies waste , while each of you is busy with his own house .[#1:9 “Behold”, from “”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.]

¹⁰Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew , and the earth withholds its fruit .

¹¹I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains , on the grain , on the new wine , on the oil , on that which the ground produces , on men , on livestock, and on all the labour of the hands .”

¹²Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jehozadak , the high priest , with all the remnant of the people , obeyed the LORD their God ’s voice , and the words of Haggai the prophet , as the LORD their God had sent him ; and the people feared the LORD .[#1:12 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “” (Elohim).]

¹³Then Haggai , the LORD ’s messenger , spoke the LORD ’s message to the people , saying, “I am with you ,” says the LORD .

¹⁴The LORD 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 worked on the house of the LORD of Armies , their God ,

¹⁵in the twenty-fourth day of the month , in the sixth month , in the second year of Darius the king .