Haggai 2

1 In the seventh [month], in the twenty and first of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying:

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

2 'Speak, I pray thee, unto Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and unto Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest, and unto the remnant of the people, saying:

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 Who among you hath been left that saw this house in its former honour? And what are ye seeing it now? Is it not, compared with it, as nothing in your eyes?

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

4 And now, be strong, O Zerubbabel, An affirmation of Jehovah, And be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest, And be strong, all ye people of the land, An affirmation of Jehovah, And do ye — (for I [am] with you, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts) —

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

5 The thing that I covenanted with you, In your coming forth from Egypt, And My Spirit is remaining in your midst, fear not.

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

6 For thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Yet once more — it [is] a little, And I am shaking the heavens and the earth, And the sea, and the dry land,

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

7 And I have shaken all the nations, And they have come [to] the desire of all the nations, And I have filled this house [with] honour, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

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

8 Mine [is] the silver, and Mine the gold, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.

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

9 Greater is the honour of this latter house, Than of the former, said Jehovah of Hosts, And in this place do I give peace, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.'

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

10 On the twenty and fourth of the ninth [month], in the second year of Darius, hath a word of Jehovah been by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying:

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 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: 'Ask, I pray thee, the priests [of] the law, saying:

Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Inquire now of the priest [concerning] the law, saying,

12 Lo, one doth carry holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and he hath come with his skirt against the bread, or against the pottage, or against the wine, or against the oil, or against any food — is it holy?' And the priests answer and say, '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 And Haggai saith, 'If the unclean of body doth come against any of these, is it unclean?' And the priests answer and say, 'It is unclean.'

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 And Haggai answereth and saith, 'So [is] this people, and so [is] this nation before Me — an affirmation of Jehovah — and so [is] every work of their hands, and that which they bring near there — it is unclean.

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

15 And now, lay [it], I pray you, to your heart, From this day, and onwards, Before the laying of stone to stone in the temple of Jehovah.

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 ye were.

16 From that time [one] hath come to a heap of twenty, And it hath been ten, He hath come unto the wine-fat to draw out fifty purahs, And it hath been twenty.

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

17 I have smitten you with blasting, And with mildew, and with hail — All the work of your hands, And there is none of you with Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.

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

18 Set [it], I pray you, to your heart, from this day and onwards, from the twenty and fourth day of the ninth [month], even from the day that the temple of Jehovah hath been founded, set [it] to your heart.

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 the seed yet in the barn? And hitherto the vine and the fig, And the pomegranate, and the olive-tree, Have not borne — from this day I bless.'

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 And there is a word of Jehovah a second time unto Haggai, on the twenty and fourth of the month, saying:

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 'Speak unto Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying: I am shaking the heavens 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 And have overturned the throne of kingdoms, And I have destroyed the strength of kingdoms of the nations, And overturned chariot and its charioteers, And come down have horses and their riders, Each by the sword of his brother.

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 In that day — an affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, I take thee, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant — an affirmation of Jehovah, And have set thee as a signet, for on thee I have fixed, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts!

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