Haggai 1
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the LORD’s word came by Haggai the prophet, to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
[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.
2 “This is what the LORD of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for the LORD’s house to be built.’”
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.
3 Then the LORD’s word came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Then Yahweh gave me this message [to tell to the people of Jerusalem]:
4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses, while this house lies waste?
“It is not right [RHQ] for you to be living in luxurious houses while my temple is only ruins!
5 Now therefore this is what the LORD of Armies says: ‘Consider your ways.
[I, ] Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, say this: Think about what is happening to you.
6 You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.’
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.”
7 “This is what the LORD of Armies says: ‘Consider your ways.
[So] this is what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, says: “Think about what is happening to you.
8 Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says the LORD.
[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.
9 “You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the LORD of Armies, “Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house.
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.
10 Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.
It is because of what you [are doing] that rain does not fall from the sky, and [as a result] there are no crops.
11 I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground produces, on men, on livestock, and on all the labour of the hands.”
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.”
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the LORD their God’s voice, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the LORD.
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.
13 Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, spoke the LORD’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you,” says the LORD.
Then [I], Haggai, who was Yahweh’s messenger, gave this message from Yahweh to the people: “I, Yahweh, declare that I am with you.”
14 The LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor 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 worked on the house of the LORD of Armies, their God,
[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.
15 in the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
[They started work] on September 21st, during the second year that Darius was the king.
