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the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and ask them, 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it seem like nothing to you now? 4 But take courage and be strong, O Zerubbabel’, declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land’, declares the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you’, declares the Lord of Hosts. 5 ‘This is a fulfilment of the covenant I made with you when you came out of Egypt, and My Spirit still remains among you. Do not fear’.
6 “This is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘In a little while, I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations, and everything desirable in all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory’, says the Lord of Hosts. 8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine’, declares the Lord of Hosts. 9 ‘The final splendour of this house will be greater than the former house’, declares the Lord of Hosts. And in this place I will provide peace’, declares the Lord of Hosts.”
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai: 11 “This is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: 12 If a person is carrying consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, wine or oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’ ”
The priests answered, “No.”
13 Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches any of these things, does it become defiled?”
“Yes,” the priests answered, “it becomes defiled.”
14 Then Haggai said, “ ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me’, declares the Lord. ‘And so is every work of their hands; and even what they offer there is defiled.
15 ‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on: Before a stone was laid upon another stone in the Lord’s temple, 16 what condition were you all in? When someone came to a heap of twenty measures of grain, there were only ten. When someone came to the wine vat to draw off fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17 I struck you and all the work of your hands with blight and mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to Me’, declares the Lord. 18 ‘Pay close attention from this day on, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there still any seed left in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have still not yielded fruit.
‘From this day on I will bless you’.”
20 The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and say, ‘I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overturn royal thrones and destroy the power of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their riders; horses and the riders will fall, each one by the sword of his brother.
23 ‘On that day’, declares the Lord of Hosts, ‘I will take you, My servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel’, declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you My signet ring, for I have chosen you’, declares the Lord of Hosts.”