Aggaeus 1
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first [day] of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of the prophet Aggaeus, saying, Speak to Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, of the tribe of Juda, and to Jesus the son of Josedec, the high priest, saying,
In the second year of the reign of king Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the Lord sent a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
2 Thus says the Lord Almighty, saying, This people say, The time is not come to build the house of the Lord.
The Lord Almighty says this: the people say, “This isn't the proper time to rebuild the Lord's house.”
3 And the word of the Lord came by the hand of the prophet Aggaeus, saying,
Then the Lord sent a message through the prophet Haggai, saying,
4 Is it time for you to dwell in your ceiled houses, whereas our house is desolate?
Is it the proper time for you to live in your paneled houses while this house remains a ruin?
5 And now thus says the Lord Almighty; Consider your ways, I pray you.
So the Lord Almighty says this: Think about what you're doing!
6 You have sown much, but brought in little; you have eaten, and are not satisfied; you have drunk, and are not satisfied with drink, you have clothed yourselves, and have not become warm thereby: and he that earns wages has gathered [them] into a bag full of holes.
You have sown much but harvested little. You eat but you're still hungry. You drink but you're still thirsty. You put on clothes but you're still cold. You work hard to earn money but put it in a bag full of holes.
7 Thus says the Lord Almighty; Consider your ways.
The Lord Almighty says this: Think about what you're doing!
8 Go up to the mountain, and cut timber; build the house, and I will take pleasure in it, and be glorified, says the Lord.
Go into the hills and bring wood to build the house. This will please me and honor me, says the Lord.
9 You looked for much, and there came little; and it was brought into the house, and I blew it away. Therefore thus says the Lord Almighty, Because my house is desolate, and you run everyone into his own house;
You were hoping for so much, but look, it turned out to be so little. Everything you brought home I blew away. And why was that? Because my house remains a ruin while you are preoccupied with building your own houses, declares the Lord Almighty.
10 therefore shall the sky withhold dew, and the earth shall keep back her produce.
That's why the clouds of heaven refused to send rain, and the earth refused to produce crops.
11 And I will bring a sword upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and all that the earth produces, and upon the men, and upon the cattle, and upon all the labors of their hands.
I called for a drought on the land, on the hills, on the grain fields, on the vineyards, and on the olive groves—on whatever the earth produces—and on people and livestock, on everything you do!
12 And Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, of the tribe of Juda, and Jesus the son of Josedec, the high priest, and all the remnant of the people, listened to the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of the prophet Aggaeus, according as the Lord their God had sent him to them, and the people feared before the Lord.
Then Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, together with all the remaining people, paid attention to what the Lord said, and to the words of Haggai the prophet that the Lord their God had sent. The people showed reverence before the Lord.
13 And Aggaeus the Lord's messenger spoke among the messengers of the Lord to the people, [saying], I am with you, says the Lord.
Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, delivered this message from the Lord telling the people, I am with you! says the Lord.
14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, of the tribe of Juda, and the spirit of Jesus the son of Josedec, the high priest, and the spirit of the remnant of all the people; and they went in, and wrought in the house of the Lord Almighty their God,
The Lord inspired Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the remaining people. They came and began work on the house of the Lord Almighty.
15 on the four and twentieth [day] of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
This happened on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of the reign of king Darius.
