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 the Lord by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, ruler of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, 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.
These are the words of the Lord of armies: These people say, The time has not come for building the Lord's house.
3 Then Yahweh gave me this message [to tell to the people of Jerusalem]:
Then the word of the Lord came 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 a time for you to be living in roofed houses while this house is a waste?
5 [I, ] Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, say this: Think about what is happening to you.
For this cause the Lord of armies has said, Give thought to your ways.
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.”
Much has been planted, but little got in; you take food, but have not enough; you take drink, but are not full; you are clothed, but no one is warm; and he who gets payment for his work, gets it to put it into a bag full of holes.
7 [So] this is what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, says: “Think about what is happening to you.
This is what the Lord of armies has said: Give thought to your ways.
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 hills and get wood and put up the house; and I will take pleasure in it and be honoured, says the Lord.
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.
You were looking for much, and it came to little; and when you got it into your house, I took it away with a breath. Why? says the Lord of armies. Because of my house which is a waste, while every man takes care of the house which is his.
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.
For this cause the heaven over you is kept from giving dew, and the earth from giving 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 by my order no rain came on the land or on the mountains or the grain or the wine or the oil or the produce of the earth or on men or cattle or on any work of man's 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 Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the rest of the people, gave ear to the voice of the Lord their God and to the words of Haggai the prophet, because the Lord their God had sent him, and the people were in fear before the Lord.
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 Haggai, whom the Lord had sent to give his words to the people, said, I am with you, says the Lord.
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 the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, ruler of Judah, was moved by the Lord, as was the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of armies, their God.
15 [They started work] on September 21st, during the second year that Darius was the king.
On the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
