Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

The Conversion of the Nations

Israel’s Joy and Restoration

Haggai

The Command to Rebuild the Temple

1 ^aIn the second year of Darius the king, 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 ^bZerubbabel the son of ^cShealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^dJoshua the son of ^eJehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came ^fby the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 ^g“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while ^hthis house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ⁱConsider your ways. 6 ^jYou have sown much, and harvested little. ^kYou eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who ^learns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ⁱConsider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that ^mI may take pleasure in it and that ⁿI may be glorified, says the Lord. 9 ^jYou looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, ^oI blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house ^hthat lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore ^pthe heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And ^qI have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on ^rthe grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and ^son all their labors.”

The People Obey the Lord

12 ^tThen ^uZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and ^uJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all ^vthe remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, ^w“I am with you, declares the Lord.” 14 And ^xthe Lord stirred up the spirit of ^uZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of ^yJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all ^zthe remnant of the people. And they came and ^aworked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 ^bon the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

The Coming Glory of the Temple

2 ^cIn the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to ^dZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^dJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 ^e‘Who is left among you who saw this house ^fin its former glory? How do you see it now? ^gIs it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now ^hbe strong, O ^dZerubbabel, declares the Lord. ^hBe strong, O ^dJoshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ^hBe strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. ⁱWork, for ^jI am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 ^kaccording to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. ^lMy Spirit remains in your midst. ^mFear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: ⁿYet once more, in a little while, ^oI will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and ^pI will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 ^qThe silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 ^rThe latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And ^sin this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

Blessings for a Defiled People

10 ^tOn the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ^uin the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^vAsk the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries ^wholy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, ^x“No.” 13 Then Haggai said, ^y“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body ^ztouches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, ^a“So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. 15 Now then, ^bconsider from this day onward.¹ Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, 16 how did you fare? ^cWhen² one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 ^dI struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, ^eyet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. 18 ^bConsider from this day onward, ^ffrom the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since ^gthe day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, ^bconsider: 19 ^hIs the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on ⁱI will bless you.”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai ^fon the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to ^jZerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ^kI am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and ^lto overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and ^moverthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, ⁿevery one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O ^jZerubbabel ^omy servant, the son of ^pShealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you ^qlike a³ signet ring, ^ofor I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”

Zechariah

A Call to Return to the Lord

1 In the eighth month, ^ain the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^bZechariah, the son of ^cBerechiah, son of ^dIddo, saying, 2 ^e“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: ^fReturn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and ^gI will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 ^hDo not be like your fathers, ⁱto whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^fReturn from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But ^jthey did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And ^kthe prophets, do they live forever? 6 ^lBut my words and my statutes, which I commanded ^mmy servants the prophets, did they not ⁿovertake your fathers? So they repented and said, ^o‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for ^pour ways and ^pdeeds, so has he dealt with us.’”

A Vision of a Horseman

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^bZechariah, the son of ^cBerechiah, son of ^dIddo, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold, ^qa man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were ^rred, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ ^sThe angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ 10 So ^qthe man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ^t‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to ^upatrol the earth.’ 11 And they answered ^sthe angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ^u‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth ^vremains at rest.’ 12 Then ^sthe angel of the Lord said, ^w‘O Lord of hosts, ^whow long will you ^xhave no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these ^yseventy years?’ 13 And the Lord answered ^zgracious and comforting words to ^sthe angel who talked with me. 14 So ^sthe angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^aI am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 ^bAnd I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are ^cat ease; ^dfor while I was angry but a little, ^ethey furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, ^fI have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; ^gmy house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^hthe measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ⁱMy cities shall again overflow with prosperity, ^jand the Lord will again comfort Zion and again ^kchoose Jerusalem.’”

A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen

18 ¹ And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^lfour horns! 19 And I said to ^sthe angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, ^l“These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, ^l“These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come ^mto terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations ⁿwho lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

2 ¹ And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^oa man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, ^p“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3 And behold, ^qthe angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ^r‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited ^sas villages without walls, because of ^tthe multitude of people and livestock in it. 5 And I will be to her ^ua wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

6 Up! Up! ^vFlee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have ^wspread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. 7 ^xUp! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me² to the nations who plundered you, ^yfor he who touches you touches ^zthe apple of his eye: 9 “Behold, ^aI will shake my hand over them, ^band they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then ^cyou will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 ^dSing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ^ebehold, I come ^fand I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 ^gAnd many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. ^fAnd I will dwell in your midst, and ^cyou shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 ^hAnd the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ⁱchoose Jerusalem.”

13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.