Haggai 1
1 [I am], Haggai, a prophet. I received a message from Yahweh on August 29th, during the second year that Darius was the king [of Persia]. I told this message to Shealtiel’s son Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and to Jehozadak’s son Jeshua, the Supreme Priest.
In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high-priest, saying,
2 Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, told [me] that the people were saying that it was not yet time for them to rebuild Yahweh’s temple.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: This people saith, The time is not yet come, the time that the house of Jehovah should be built.
3 Then Yahweh gave me this message [to tell to the people of Jerusalem]:
But the word of Jehovah hath come by Haggai the prophet, saying: —
4 “It is not right [RHQ] for you to be living in luxurious houses while my temple is only ruins!
Is it, then, a time for yourselves To dwell in ceiled houses, While this house lieth waste?
5 [I, ] Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, say this: Think about what is happening to you.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider how it goeth with you!
6 You have planted a lot [of seeds], but you are not getting many [crops] to harvest. You eat [food], but you never get enough. You drink [wine], but you are still thirsty. You wear clothes, but you do not stay warm. You earn money, [but things are very expensive], with the result that [it is as though] [MET] [your money disappears because] you are putting it in purses/pockets that have [big] holes in them.”
Ye sow much, and bring in little; Ye eat, but are not full; Ye drink, but are not satisfied; Ye clothe yourselves, but are not warmed; And he that earneth wages earneth them for a purse with holes.
7 [So] this is what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, says: “Think about what is happening to you.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider how it goeth with you!
8 [Then] go up into the hills, [cut down trees, ] and bring timber [down here], and rebuild my temple. When you do that, I will be pleased, and I will be honored.
Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house, That I may have pleasure therein, And be glorified, saith Jehovah.
9 You expected [to harvest] plenty [of crops], but there were few [crops to harvest]. And when you brought the crops home, I caused them to spoil [IDM] quickly. The reason [that happened is that] my temple is a ruins, while each of you are busy building your own [beautiful] houses.
Ye look for much, and lo, it cometh to little; And when ye bring it home, I blow it away; And why? saith Jehovah of hosts. Because of my house which lieth waste, While ye run every one to his own house.
10 It is because of what you [are doing] that rain does not fall from the sky, and [as a result] there are no crops.
Therefore the heaven over you withholdeth the dew, And the earth refuseth her fruit.
11 I have caused a (drought/severe lack of rain) on the hills and on your fields. The result has been that your grain [has withered], and your grapevines [MTY] and olive trees [MTY] and all your [other] crops have dried up. [Because of that, ] you and your cattle [do not have enough food], and the hard work that you have done will be for nothing.”
And I have called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains; And upon the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; Upon that which the ground bringeth forth, And upon men, and upon cattle, And upon all the labor of the hands.
12 Then Zerubbabel and Jeshua and all the others of God’s people who were still alive obeyed the message that Yahweh our God had said, and they heeded the message that I had given them, because [they knew that] Yahweh our God had sent/appointed me. And the people revered Yahweh.
Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high-priest, and all the remnant of people, hearkened to the voice of Jehovah their God, and to the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God had sent him; and the people feared before Jehovah.
13 Then [I], Haggai, who was Yahweh’s messenger, gave this message from Yahweh to the people: “I, Yahweh, declare that I am with you.”
Then spake Haggai, the messenger of Jehovah, by a message from Jehovah to the people, saying, I am with you, saith Jehovah.
14 [So] Yahweh motivated Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the other people to want to rebuild the temple of our God, the Commander of the armies of angels. They gathered together and started to work to rebuild it.
And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high-priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of people, so that they came and executed work upon the house of Jehovah of hosts, their God,
15 [They started work] on September 21st, during the second year that Darius was the king.
on the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
