1In the second year of Darius the king , in the sixth month , in the first day of the month , came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel , governor of Judah , and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak , the high priest , saying , 2Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts , saying, This people say, It is not the time for us to come , the time for Jehovah ’s house to be built . 3Then came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet , saying , 4Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses , while this house lieth waste ?
God's Rebuke and the Consequences of Neglect
5Now therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts : Consider your ways . 6Ye have sown much , and bring 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 to put it into a bag with holes . 7Thus saith Jehovah of hosts : Consider your ways . 8Go up to the mountain , and bring wood , and build the house ; and I will take pleasure in it , and I will be glorified , saith Jehovah . 9Ye looked for much , and , lo , it came to little ; and when ye brought it home , I did blow upon it . Why ? saith Jehovah of hosts . Because of my house that lieth waste , while ye run every man to his own house . 10Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew , and the earth withholdeth its fruit . 11And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains , and upon the grain , and upon the new wine , and upon the oil , and upon that which the ground bringeth forth , and upon men , and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands .
The People's Response and Action
12Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel , and Joshua the son of Jehozadak , the high priest , with all the remnant of the people , obeyed the voice of Jehovah their God , and the words of Haggai the prophet , as Jehovah their God had sent him ; and the people did fear before Jehovah . 13Then spake Haggai Jehovah ’s messenger in Jehovah ’s message unto the people , saying, I am with you , saith Jehovah . 14And Jehovah 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 on the house of Jehovah 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 .