Haggai 1

The Call to Rebuild the House of the LORD

1In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:

2Thus says the LORD of Hosts:
“These people say,
‘The time has not yet come
to rebuild the house of the LORD.’”

3Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 4“Is it a time for you yourselves
to dwell in your paneled houses,
while this house lies in ruins?

5Now therefore,
thus says the LORD of Hosts:
Consider your ways. 6You have sown much
and harvested little.
You eat,
but never have enough.
You drink,
but never become filled.
You clothe yourselves,
but no one is warm.
And he who earns wages
earns wages
to put them into a bag with holes.”

7Thus says the LORD of Hosts:
Consider your ways. 8Go up to the hills
and bring wood
and rebuild the house,
that I may take pleasure in it
and be glorified,”
says the LORD.

9“You looked for much,
and behold, it came to little.
And when you brought it home,
I blew it away.
Why?”
declares the LORD of Hosts.
“Because of my house,
which lies in ruins,
while each of you runs
to his own house. 10Therefore the heavens above you
have withheld the dew,
and the earth has withheld its produce. 11And I have called for a drought
upon the land and the hills,
upon the grain,
the new wine,
the oil,
upon what the ground brings forth,
upon man and beast,
and upon all their labor.”

The People Obey

12Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.

13Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD's message:
“I am with you,”
declares the LORD.

14And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua 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 Hosts, their God, 15on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.