Haggai 1

₁The Lord talked to Zerubbabel and Joshua. He sent the prophet Haggai to give them a message. This was on the first day of the 6th month in the 2nd year after Darius had become king. Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah and he was the son of Shealtiel. Joshua was the high-priest and he was the son of Jozadak.

₂The Lord who rules over all says: ‘These people say it is not the right time to build the temple of the Lord again.’

₃The Lord sent Haggai to take them a message. The Lord said: ₄‘Do you think it is right for you to live in your beautiful homes, big houses that you have built with wood, but my temple is broken down, and is just a heap of stones?’

₅Now this is what the Lord who rules over all says: ‘Think about everything that has happened to you. ₆You have sown a lot of wheat, but you have cut and harvested very little. You eat and drink a lot but you are still hungry and thirsty. You have put on clothes, but you are still cold. You have worked hard for other people, but you have no money.’

₇The Lord who rules over all says: ‘Think about what has happened to you ₈and go and get wood on the mountain and start building my temple. I will be pleased about it and then people can worship Me there.’ This is what the Lord said.

₉The Lord says: ‘You hoped that there would be a lot of wheat that you could cut, but you have harvested only a little. And when you brought it home, I made that little wheat disappear. Why?’

The Lord who rules over all says: ‘I did it because my temple is broken down. It is just a heap of stones, but you all are working hard to build your own houses. ₁₀That is why the ground has become dry and it has given only a little wheat. ₁₁I have stopped the rain and made it dry in the fields and on the mountains so that your plants will not grow. Your cows will not have enough grass to eat. Your vines and your olive trees will have only a little fruit. No young animals will be born and you will have no children. You will work hard but you will get nothing.’

₁₂Zerubbabel and Joshua, the high-priest, and all the people who had been prisoners in Babylon but had come back and were still_alive heard what the Lord their God said. They heard the message that the prophet Haggai told them and then the people became afraid of God. ₁₃Haggai told the people what the Lord had said. He told them: ‘The Lord says: I am with you.’

₁₄The Lord changed the hearts of Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, Joshua, the high-priest, and all the people who had been prisoners in Babylon but had come back and were still_alive. They wanted to do the work. They came and started to build the temple of the Lord their God who rules over all. ₁₅It was on the 24th day of the 6th month in the 2nd year after Darius had become king.