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 king Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord through means of Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealthiel, the governor 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.
Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, saying, This people have said, The time is not yet come, the time for the Lord's house to be built.
3 Then Yahweh gave me this message [to tell to the people of Jerusalem]:
And the word of the Lord came by means of 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 time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, while this house lieth in ruins?
5 [I, ] Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, say this: Think about what is happening to you.
Now therefore, thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Direct your heart unto 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.”
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but it doth not satisfy hunger; ye drink, but it doth not appease thirst; ye clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he that earneth something earneth it for a bag with holes.
7 [So] this is what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, says: “Think about what is happening to you.
Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Direct your heart 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 mountain, and bring wood, and build the house: that I may take pleasure in it, and be glorified, saith 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.
[Till now] ye looked for much, and lo, it came to be little; and when ye brought it home, I blew upon it. For what cause? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lieth in ruins, while ye run every man unto his own house.
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.
Therefore do the heavens for your sake withhold the dew, and the earth withholdeth her products.
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 I called for a drought over the land, and over the mountains, and over the corn, and over the new wine, and over the oil, and over what the ground bringeth forth, and over men, and over cattle, and over all the labor of the 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 hearkened Zerubbabel the son of Shealthiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, unto the voice of the Lord their God, and to the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people were afraid of 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 said Haggai the messenger of the Lord by the Lord's message unto the people saying, I am with you, saith 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 Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealthiel, the 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 did work on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God.
15 [They started work] on September 21st, during the second year that Darius was the king.
On the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of king Darius.
