Haggai

1 The time of the Prophecy of Haggai. 8 An exhortation to build the Temple again.

In the second year of king [a]Darius, in the sixth month, the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord (by the ministry of the Prophet Haggai) unto [b]Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, a prince of Judah, and to Jehoshua the son of Jehozadak the high Priest, saying,

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, the time is not yet come, [c]that the Lord’s house should be built.

Then came the word of the Lord by the ministry of the Prophet Haggai, saying,

Is it time for yourselves to dwell in your [d]ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?

Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your own ways in your hearts.

[e]Ye have sown much, and bring in little: ye eat, but ye have not enough: ye drink, but ye are not filled: ye clothe you, but ye be not warm: and he that earneth wages, putteth the wages into a broken bag.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your own ways in your hearts.

Go [f]up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build this House, and [g]I will be favorable in it, and I will [h]be glorified, saith the Lord.

Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little: and when ye brought it home, I did blow [i]upon it. And why, saith the Lord of hosts? Because of mine House that is waste, and ye turn every man unto his own house.

10 Therefore the heaven over you stayed itself from dew, and the earth stayed her fruit.

11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, upon all that the ground bringeth forth: both upon men and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.

12 When Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high Priest, with all the remnant of the people, heard the [j]voice of the Lord their God, and the words of the Prophet Haggai (as the Lord their God had sent him) then the people did fear before the Lord.

13 Then spake Haggai the Lord’s messenger in the Lord’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord.

14 And the Lord stirred up [k]the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, a prince 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 did the work in the House of the Lord of hosts their God.

Footnotes

  1. Haggai 1:1 Who was the son of Histaspis and the third king of the Persians, as some think.
  2. Haggai 1:1 Because the building of the Temple began to cease, by reason that the people were discouraged by their enemies: and if these two notable men had need to be stirred up and admonished of their duties, what shall we think of other governors, whose doings are either against God, or very cold in his cause?
  3. Haggai 1:2 Not that they condemned the building thereof, but they preferred policy and private profit to religion, being content with small beginnings.
  4. Haggai 1:4 Showing that they sought not only their necessities, but their very pleasures before God’s honor.
  5. Haggai 1:6 Consider the plagues of God upon you for preferring your policies to his religion, and because ye seek not him first of all.
  6. Haggai 1:8 Meaning, that they should leave off their own commodities, and go forward in the building of God’s Temple, and in the setting forth of his religion.
  7. Haggai 1:8 That is, I will hear your prayers according to my promise, 1 Kings 8:21, 29.
  8. Haggai 1:8 That is, my glory shall be set forth by you.
  9. Haggai 1:9 And so bring it to nothing.
  10. Haggai 1:12 This declareth that God was the author of the doctrine, and that he was but the minister, as Exod. 14:31; Judg. 7:20; Acts 15:28.
  11. Haggai 1:14 Which declareth that men are inept and dull to serve the Lord, neither can they obey his word or his messengers, before God reform their hearts, and give them new spirits, John 6:44.

A Call to Build the House of the Lord

In the second year of King Darius,(A) on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai(B) to Zerubbabel(C) son of Shealtiel, governor(D) of Judah, and to Joshua(E) son of Jozadak,[a](F) the high priest:(G)

This is what the Lord Almighty(H) says: “These people(I) say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.(J)’”

Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:(K) “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses,(L) while this house remains a ruin?(M)

Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought(N) to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little.(O) You eat, but never have enough.(P) You drink, but never have your fill.(Q) You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages,(R) only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought(S) to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber(T) and build my house, so that I may take pleasure(U) in it and be honored,(V)” says the Lord. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little.(W) What you brought home, I blew(X) away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin,(Y) while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld(Z) their dew(AA) and the earth its crops.(AB) 11 I called for a drought(AC) on the fields and the mountains,(AD) on the grain, the new wine,(AE) the olive oil(AF) and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.(AG)

12 Then Zerubbabel(AH) son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant(AI) of the people obeyed(AJ) the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared(AK) the Lord.

13 Then Haggai,(AL) the Lord’s messenger,(AM) gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with(AN) you,” declares the Lord. 14 So the Lord stirred up(AO) the spirit of Zerubbabel(AP) son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak,(AQ) the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant(AR) of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.(AS)

The Promised Glory of the New House

In the second year of King Darius,(AT)

Footnotes

  1. Haggai 1:1 Hebrew Jehozadak, a variant of Jozadak; also in verses 12 and 14