This book contains the account of the Israeli people obeying God’s message to them through Haggai and rebuilding the temple. We call this book

Haggai

1

A call to rebuild the temple

1I 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.

2Yahweh, 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.

3Then Yahweh gave me this message to tell to the people of Jerusalem: 4“It is not right [RHQ] for you to be living in luxurious houses while my temple is only ruins! 5I, Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, say this: Think about what is happening to you. 6You 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.”

7So this is what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of heaven, says: “Think about what is happening to you. 8Then 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. 9You 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. 10It is because of what you are doing that rain does not fall from the sky, and as a result there are no crops. 11I 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.”

12Then 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.

13Then I, Haggai, who was Yahweh’s messenger, gave this message from Yahweh to the people: “I, Yahweh, declare that I am with you.” 14So 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. 15They started work on September 21st, during the second year that Darius was the king.

2

The new temple

1On October 17 of that year, Yahweh gave me, the prophet Haggai, another message. 2The message was that I should say this to Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and to the other people who were still alive in Jerusalem: 3“Do any of you remember how glorious our former temple was? If you do, what does it look like to you now? It must seem like nothing at all. 4But now the Commander of the armies of angels says to all of you, to Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of you people who live in this nation, ‘Do not be discouraged; be strong [DOU], and work to build this new temple, because I will ◄be with/help► you. 5My Spirit remains among you, like I promised your ancestors when they left Egypt. So do not be afraid!’ ”

6This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: “Soon I will shake the sky and the earth, the oceans and the land again. 7I will shake again the people of all the nations, and as a result they will bring their treasures to this temple. I will fill this temple with my glory. 8The silver and the gold that they own are really mine, so they will bring them to me. 9Then this temple will be more glorious than the former/previous temple was. And I will cause things to go well for you all. That will surely happen because I, the Commander of the armies of angels, have said it.”

What they do now will be acceptable to Yahweh

10On December 18 of that year, Yahweh gave another message to me, the prophet Haggai. 11This is what the Commander of the armies of angels said to me: “Ask the priests this question about what is written in the laws of Moses about sacrifices: 12‘If one of you priests takes from the altar some meat that was sacrificed and is carrying it in his robes, if his robe touches some bread or stew or wine or olive oil or some other food, does that food also become ◄holy/acceptable for a sacrifice►?’”

When he said that to the priests, they replied, “No.”

13Then Haggai asked them, “If someone becomes unacceptable to God by touching a corpse, and then he touches any of those foods, will the food also become unacceptable to God?”

The priests replied, “Yes.”

14Then Haggai replied, “Yahweh says this: ‘It is the same with you people and with this nation. Everything that you do and all the sacrifices that you all offer are unacceptable to me because of the sins that you have committed.

15Think about what has been happening to you before you began to lay the foundation of my temple. 16When you expected to harvest 20 bushels of grain, you harvested only ten bushels. When someone went to a big wine vat to get 50 gallons of wine, there were only 20 gallons in the vat. 17I sent ◄blight/hot winds► and mildew and hail to destroy all your crops. But still you did not return to me.

18Starting from this day, December 18, the day when you have laid the foundation of my new temple, continue to think carefully about your situation. 19Is there now [RHQ] any grain seed left in your barns? No, because you have eaten the small amount that you harvested. And there is no fruit on your grapevines and fig trees and pomegranate trees and olive trees.

But, from now on, I will bless you!’ ”

Yahweh’s promise to Zerubbabel

20On that same day, Yahweh gave another message to me. 21He said, “Tell Zerubbabel the governor of Judah that I am going to shake the sky and the earth. 22I will end the power of the kings of many nations [DOU]. I will cause their chariots and their drivers, their horses and the soldiers who are riding on them to be destroyed. What will happen is that I will cause the soldiers to kill each other with their swords.

23Zerubbabel, you serve me well. So I, the Commander of the armies of angels, declare that like kings wear signet rings to show that they have authority to rule people, I will appoint you and cause you to have authority to rule. I will do that because I have chosen you. That will surely happen because I, the Commander of the armies of angels, have said it.”