Haggai 2

1 On October 17 [of that year], Yahweh gave [me], the prophet Haggai, [another] message.

In the seventh month, on the twenty-first [day] of the month, the Lord spoke by Aggaeus the prophet, saying,

2 [The message was that I should] say this to Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and to the other people who were still alive [in Jerusalem]:

Speak now to Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, of the tribe of Juda, and to Jesus the son of Josedec, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, saying,

3 “Do any of you remember how glorious our former temple was? [If you do, ] what does it look like to you now? It must seem like nothing at all.

Who [is there] of you that saw this house in her former glory? and how do you now look upon it, as it were nothing before your eyes?

4 But now the Commander of the armies of angels says to [all of you], to Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of you people who live in this nation, ‘[Do not be discouraged; ] be strong [DOU], and work [to build this new temple], because I will (be with/help) you.

Yet now be strong, O Zorobabel, says the Lord; and strengthen yourself, O Jesus the high priest, the son of Josedec; and let all the people of the land strengthen themselves, says the Lord, and work, for I am with you, says the Lord Almighty;

5 My Spirit remains among you, like I promised your [ancestors] when they left Egypt. [So] do not be afraid!’”

and my Spirit remains in the midst of you; be of good courage.

6 This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: “Soon I will shake the sky and the earth, the oceans and the land again.

For thus says the Lord Almighty; Yet once I will shake the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];

7 I will shake [again the people of] all the nations, and as a result they will bring their treasures [to this temple]. I will fill this temple with [my] glory.

and I will shake all nations, and the choice [portions] of all the nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty.

8 The silver and the gold [that they own] are [really] mine, [so they will bring them to me].

Mine is the silver, and mine the gold, says the Lord Almighty.

9 [Then] this temple will be more glorious than the former/previous [temple was]. And I will cause things to go well for you all. [That will surely happen because I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, have said it.”

For the glory of this house shall be great, the latter more than the former, says the Lord Almighty: and in this place will I give peace, says the Lord Almighty, even peace of soul for a possession to every one that builds, to raise up this temple.

10 On December 18 of that year, Yahweh gave [another] message to [me], the prophet Haggai.

On the four and twentieth [day] of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Aggaeus the prophet, saying,

11 This is what the Commander of the armies of angels said to me: “Ask the priests [this question] about what is written in the laws [of Moses about sacrifices]:

Thus says the Lord Almighty; Enquire now of the priest [concerning] the law, saying,

12 ‘If one [of you priests takes from the altar some] meat that was sacrificed and is carrying it in his robes, if his robe touches [some] bread or stew or wine or [olive] oil or some other food, does that food also become (holy/acceptable for a sacrifice)?’” [When he said that to] the priests, they replied, “No.”

If a man should take holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and the skirt of his garment should touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.

13 Then Haggai asked them, “If someone becomes unacceptable to God by touching a corpse, and [then he] touches any of those foods, will the food [also] become unacceptable to God?” The priests replied, “Yes.”

And Aggaeus said, If a defiled person who is unclean by reason of a dead body, touch any of these, shall it be defiled? And the priests answered and said, It shall be defiled.

14 Then Haggai replied, “Yahweh says [this]: ‘It is the same with you people and with this nation. Everything that you do and [all the sacrifices] that you all offer are unacceptable to me [because of the sins that you have committed].

And Aggaeus answered and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, says the Lord; and so are all the works of their hands: and whoever shall approach them, shall be defiled [because of their early burdens: they shall be pained because of their toils; and you have hated him that reproved in the gates].

15 Think about what has been happening to you before you began to lay the foundation of my temple.

And now consider, I pray you, from this day and beforetime, before they laid a stone on a stone in the temple of the Lord, what manner of men you were.

16 When you expected [to harvest] 20 bushels [of grain, you harvested] only ten bushels. When someone went to a [big] wine vat to get 50 gallons [of wine], there were only 20 [gallons in the vat].

When you cast into the corn-bin twenty measures of barley, and there were [only] ten measures of barley: and you went to the vat to draw out fifty measures, and there were [but] twenty.

17 I sent (blight/hot winds) and mildew and hail to destroy all your crops. But still you did not return to me.

I struck you with barrenness, and with blasting, and all the works of your hands with hail; yet you returned not to me, says the Lord.

18 Starting from this day, December 18, the day when [you] have laid the foundation of my [new] temple, continue to think carefully [about your situation].

Set your hearts now [to think] from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth [day] of the ninth month, even from the day when the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid;

19 Is there now [RHQ] [any grain] seed left in your barns? [No, because you have eaten the small amount that you harvested]. And there is no fruit on your grapevines and fig trees and pomegranate [trees] and olive trees. But, from now on, I will bless you!’”

consider in your hearts, whether [this] shall be known on the corn-floor, and whether yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive-trees that bear no fruit [are with you]: from this day will I bless [you].

20 On that same day, Yahweh gave another message to me.

And the word of the Lord came the second time to Aggaeus the prophet, on the four and twentieth [day] of the month, saying,

21 [He said, ] “Tell Zerubbabel the governor of Judah that I am going to shake the sky and the earth.

Speak to Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, of the tribe of Juda, saying, I shake the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];

22 I will end the power of the kings of [many] nations [DOU]. I will cause their chariots and their drivers, their horses and [the soldiers] who are riding on them to be destroyed. [What will happen is that I will cause the soldiers] to kill each other with their swords.

and I will overthrow the thrones of kings, and I will destroy the power of the kings of the nations; and I will overthrow chariots and riders; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword striving against his brother.

23 Zerubbabel, you serve [me well]. So [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, declare that [like kings wear] signet rings [to show that they have authority to rule people], I will appoint you and cause you [to have authority to rule]. I will do that because I have chosen you. [That will surely happen because I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, have said it.”

In that day, says the Lord Almighty, I will take you, O Zorobabel, the son of Salathiel, my servant, says the Lord, and will make you as a seal: for I have chosen you, says the Lord Almighty.