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.”