Encouraging the people

¹On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the LORD ’s word came through Haggai the prophet:

²Say to Judah’s governor Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, and to the chief priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son, and to the rest of the people:

³Who among you is left who saw this house in its former glory?

How does it look to you now?

Doesn’t it appear as nothing to you?

⁴So now, be strong, Zerubbabel, says the LORD .

Be strong, High Priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son,

Work, for I am with you, says the LORD of heavenly forces.

⁵As with our agreement when you came out of Egypt,

Don’t fear.

⁶This is what the LORD of heavenly forces says:

In just a little while, I will make the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land quake.

⁷I will make all the nations quake.

I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of heavenly forces.

⁸The silver and the gold belong to me, says the LORD of heavenly forces.

⁹This house will be more glorious than its predecessor, says the LORD of heavenly forces.

Cleansing the work

¹⁰On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month in the second year of Darius, the LORD ’s word came to Haggai the prophet:

¹¹This is what the LORD of heavenly forces says:

Go ahead and ask the priests for a ruling:

And the priests responded, “No.”

¹³Haggai said,

¹⁴Then Haggai responded:

¹⁵So now, take it to heart from this day forward.

¹⁶when one came to the granary for twenty measures,

and when one came to the wine vat for fifty measures,

¹⁷I struck you—everything you do with your hands—

¹⁸So take it to heart from this day forward,

¹⁹Is the seed yet in the granary—

From this day forward, I will bless you.

Royal expectations

²⁰And the LORD ’s word came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth of the month, saying:

²¹Speak to Judah’s governor Zerubbabel:

I am about to make the heavens and the earth quake.

²³On that day, says the LORD of heavenly forces:

I will take you, Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, my servant, says the LORD ;