1On August 29 of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.H8147H8141H1867H4428H8345H2320H259H3117H2320H1697H3068H3027H2292H5030H2216H1121H7597H6346H3063H3091H1121H3087H1419H3548H5592“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’”H559H3068H6635H559H5971H559H6256H935H6256H3068H1004H11293Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai:H1697H3068H3027H2292H5030H5594“Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?H6256H3427H5603H1004H1004H27205This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!H559H3068H6635H7760H3824H18706You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!H2232H7235H935H4592H398H7654H8354H7937H3847H2527H7936H7936H6872H53447“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!H559H3068H6635H7760H3824H18708Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.H5927H2022H935H6086H1129H1004H7521H3513H559H30689You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses.H6437H7235H4592H935H1004H5301H5002H3068H6635H3282H1004H2720H7323H376H100410It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops.H8064H3607H2919H776H3607H298111I have called for a drought on your fields and hills—a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.”H7121H2721H776H2022H1715H8492H3323H127H3318H120H929H3018H3709
Obedience to God’s Call
12Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord.H2216H1121H7597H3091H1121H3087H1419H3548H7611H5971H8085H6963H3068H430H1697H2292H5030H3068H430H7971H5971H3372H6440H306813Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord: “I am with you, says the Lord!”H559H2292H3068H4397H3068H4400H5971H559H5002H306814So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God’s people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,H3068H5782H7307H2216H1121H7597H6346H3063H7307H3091H1121H3087H1419H3548H7307H7611H5971H935H6213H4399H1004H3068H6635H43015on September 21 of the second year of King Darius’s reign.H702H6242H3117H8345H2320H8147H8141H1867H4428
Haggai 2
The New Temple’s Diminished Splendor
2Then on October 17 of that same year, the Lord sent another message through the prophet Haggai.H7637H259H6242H2320H1697H3068H3027H5030H2292H5592“Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God’s people there in the land:H559H2216H1121H7597H6346H3063H3091H1121H3087H1419H3548H7611H5971H5593‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all!H7604H7200H1004H7223H3519H7200H5869H36444But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H2388H2216H5002H3068H2388H3091H1121H3087H1419H3548H2388H5971H776H5002H3068H6213H5002H3068H66355My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.’H1697H3772H3318H4714H7307H5975H8432H33726“For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land.H559H3068H6635H259H4592H7493H8064H776H3220H27247I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H7493H1471H2532H1471H935H4390H1004H3519H559H3068H66358The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H3701H2091H5002H3068H66359The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”H3519H314H1004H1419H7223H5002H3068H6635H4725H5414H7965H559H3068H6635
Blessings Promised for Obedience
10On December 18 of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord sent this message to the prophet Haggai:H702H6242H8671H8147H8141H1867H1697H3068H3027H2292H5030H55911“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says. Ask the priests this question about the law:H559H3068H6635H7592H3548H8451H55912‘If one of you is carrying some meat from a holy sacrifice in his robes and his robe happens to brush against some bread or stew, wine or olive oil, or any other kind of food, will it also become holy?’” The priests replied, “No.”H376H5375H6944H1320H3671H899H3671H5060H3899H5138H3196H8081H3978H6942H3548H6030H55913Then Haggai asked, “If someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then touches any of these foods, will the food be defiled?” And the priests answered, “Yes.”H559H2292H2931H5315H5060H2930H3548H6030H559H293014Then Haggai responded, “That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the Lord. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled by their sin.H6030H2292H559H5971H1471H6440H5002H3068H4639H3027H7126H293115Look at what was happening to you before you began to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple.H7760H3824H3117H4605H2962H68H7760H68H1964H306816When you hoped for a twenty-bushel crop, you harvested only ten. When you expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, you found only twenty.H935H6194H6242H6235H935H3342H2834H2572H6333H624217I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy everything you worked so hard to produce. Even so, you refused to return to me, says the Lord.H5221H7711H3420H1259H4639H3027H5002H306818“Think about this eighteenth day of December, the day when the foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid. Think carefully.H7760H3824H3117H4605H702H6242H3117H8671H3117H3245H3068H1964H7760H382419I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you.”H2233H4035H1612H8384H7416H2132H6086H5375H3117H1288
Promises for Zerubbabel
20On that same day, December 18, the Lord sent this second message to Haggai:H8145H1697H3068H2292H702H6242H2320H55921“Tell Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth.H559H2216H6346H3063H559H7493H8064H77622I will overthrow royal thrones and destroy the power of foreign kingdoms. I will overturn their chariots and riders. The horses will fall, and their riders will kill each other.H2015H3678H4467H8045H2392H4467H1471H2015H4818H7392H5483H7392H3381H376H2719H25123“But when this happens, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, I will honor you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant. I will make you like a signet ring on my finger, says the Lord, for I have chosen you. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”H3117H5002H3068H6635H3947H2216H5650H1121H7597H5002H3068H7760H2368H977H5002H3068H6635
Psalms 59
59[For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Saul sent soldiers to watch David’s house in order to kill him. To be sung to the tune “Do Not Destroy!”] Rescue me from my enemies, O God. Protect me from those who have come to destroy me.H5329H516H4387H1732H7586H7971H8104H1004H4191H5337H341H430H7682H69652Rescue me from these criminals; save me from these murderers.H5337H6466H205H3467H1818H5823They have set an ambush for me. Fierce enemies are out there waiting, Lord, though I have not sinned or offended them.H693H5315H5794H1481H6588H2403H30684I have done nothing wrong, yet they prepare to attack me. Wake up! See what is happening and help me!H7323H3559H5771H5782H7125H72005O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, wake up and punish those hostile nations. Show no mercy to wicked traitors. InterludeH3068H430H6635H430H3478H6974H6485H1471H2603H205H898H55426They come out at night, snarling like vicious dogs as they prowl the streets.H7725H6153H1993H3611H5437H58927Listen to the filth that comes from their mouths; their words cut like swords. “After all, who can hear us?” they sneer.H5042H6310H2719H8193H80858But Lord, you laugh at them. You scoff at all the hostile nations.H3068H7832H1471H39329You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress.H5797H8104H430H486910In his unfailing love, my God will stand with me. He will let me look down in triumph on all my enemies.H430H2617H6923H430H7200H832411Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield.H2026H5971H7911H5128H2428H3381H136H404312Because of the sinful things they say, because of the evil that is on their lips, let them be captured by their pride, their curses, and their lies.H2403H6310H1697H8193H3920H1347H423H3585H560813Destroy them in your anger! Wipe them out completely! Then the whole world will know that God reigns in Israel. InterludeH3615H2534H3615H3045H430H4910H3290H657H776H554214My enemies come out at night, snarling like vicious dogs as they prowl the streets.H6153H7725H1993H3611H5437H589215They scavenge for food but go to sleep unsatisfied.H5128H5128H398H3885H764616But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.H7891H5797H7442H2617H1242H4869H4498H3117H686217O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.H5797H2167H430H4869H430H2617
Dublin, OH
of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.H8147
