[Haggai – 1917 Jewish Publication Society]

Chapter 1

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying: ²’Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying: This people say: The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.’ ³Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying: ⁴’Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your cieled houses, while this house lieth waste? ⁵Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. ⁶Ye have sown much, and brought in little, Ye eat, but ye have not enough, Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink, Ye clothe you, but there is none warm; And he that earneth wages earneth wages For a bag with holes. ⁷Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. ⁸Go up to the hill- country, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. ⁹Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of My house that lieth waste, while ye run every man for his own house. ¹⁰Therefore over you the heaven hath kept back, so that there is no dew, and the earth hath kept back her produce. ¹¹And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.’

¹²Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, hearkened unto the voice of the LORD their God, and unto the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people did fear before the LORD. ¹³Then spoke Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying: ‘I am with you, saith the LORD.’ ¹⁴And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, 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 in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, ¹⁵in the four and twentieth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Chapter 2

In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying: ²’Speak now to Zerubbabel    the       son       of         Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: ³Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now? is not such a one as nothing in your eyes? ⁴Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work; for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts. ⁵The word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt have I established, and My spirit abideth among you; fear ye not. ⁶For thus saith the LORD of hosts: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; ⁷and I will shake all nations, and the choicest things of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. ⁸Mine is the silver, and Mine the gold, saith the LORD of hosts. ⁹The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former, saith the LORD of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.’

¹⁰In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying: ¹¹’Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Ask now the priests for instruction, saying: ¹²If one bear hallowed flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any food, shall it be holy?’ And the priests answered and said: ‘No.’ ¹³Then said Haggai: ‘If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean?’ And the priests answered and said: ‘It shall be unclean.’ ¹⁴Then answered Haggai, and said: ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. ¹⁵And now, I pray you, consider from this day and forward— before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD, ¹⁶through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw out fifty press-measures, there were but twenty; ¹⁷I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to Me, saith the LORD—¹⁸consider, I pray you, from this day and forward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider it; ¹⁹is the seed yet in the barn? yea, the vine, and the fig- tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive-tree hath not brought forth— from this day will I bless you.’

²⁰And the word of the LORD came the second time unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying: ²¹’Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: I will shake the heavens and the earth; ²²and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. ²³In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet; for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.’