2On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the Word of GOD came through the prophet Haggai: "Tell Governor Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and High Priest Joshua son of JehozadakH7637H259H6242H2320H1697H3068H3027H5030H2292H559 2and all the people:H559H2216H1121H7597H6346H3063H3091H1121H3087H1419H3548H7611H5971H559 3'Is there anyone here who saw the Temple the way it used to be, all glorious? And what do you see now? Not much, right?H7604H7200H1004H7223H3519H7200H5869H3644 4"'So get to work, Zerubbabel!'—GOD is speaking. "'Get to work, Joshua son of Jehozadak—high priest!' "'Get to work, all you people!'—GOD is speaking. "'Yes, get to work! For I am with you.' The GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies is speaking!H2388H2216H5002H3068H2388H3091H1121H3087H1419H3548H2388H5971H776H5002H3068H6213H5002H3068H6635 5'Put into action the word I covenanted with you when you left Egypt. I'm living and breathing among you right now. Don't be timid. Don't hold back.'H1697H3772H3318H4714H7307H5975H8432H3372 6"This is what GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies said: 'Before you know it, I will shake up sky and earth, ocean and fields.H559H3068H6635H259H4592H7493H8064H776H3220H2724 7And I'll shake down all the godless nations. They'll bring bushels of wealth and I will fill this Temple with splendor.' GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.H7493H1471H2532H1471H935H4390H1004H3519H559H3068H6635 8'I own the silver, I own the gold.' Decree of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies.H3701H2091H5002H3068H6635 9"'This Temple is going to end up far better than it started out, a glorious beginning but an even more glorious finish: a place in which I will hand out wholeness and holiness.' Decree of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies."H3519H314H1004H1419H7223H5002H3068H6635H4725H5414H7965H559H3068H6635 10On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (again, this was in the second year of Darius), GOD's Message came to Haggai:H702H6242H8671H8147H8141H1867H1697H3068H3027H2292H5030H559 11"GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks: Consult the priests for a ruling.H559H3068H6635H7592H3548H8451H559 12If someone carries a piece of sacred meat in his pocket, meat that is set apart for sacrifice on the altar, and the pocket touches a loaf of bread, a dish of stew, a bottle of wine or oil, or any other food, will these foods be made holy by such contact?" The priests said, "No."H376H5375H6944H1320H3671H899H3671H5060H3899H5138H3196H8081H3978H6942H3548H6030H559 13Then Haggai said, "How about someone who is contaminated by touching a corpse—if that person touches one of these foods, will it be contaminated?" The priests said, "Yes, it will be contaminated."H559H2292H2931H5315H5060H2930H3548H6030H559H2930 14Then Haggai said, "'So, this people is contaminated. Their nation is contaminated. Everything they do is contaminated. Whatever they do for me is contaminated.' GOD says so.H6030H2292H559H5971H1471H6440H5002H3068H4639H3027H7126H2931 15"'Think back. Before you set out to lay the first foundation stones for the rebuilding of my Temple,H7760H3824H3117H4605H2962H68H7760H68H1964H3068 16how did it go with you? Isn't it true that your foot-dragging, halfhearted efforts at rebuilding the Temple of GOD were reflected in a sluggish, halfway return on your crops—half the grain you were used to getting, half the wine?H935H6194H6242H6235H935H3342H2834H2572H6333H6242 17I hit you with drought and blight and hail. Everything you were doing got hit. But it didn't seem to faze you. You continued to ignore me.' GOD's Decree.H5221H7711H3420H1259H4639H3027H5002H3068 18"'Now think ahead from this same date—this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Think ahead from when the Temple rebuilding was launched.H7760H3824H3117H4605H702H6242H3117H8671H3117H3245H3068H1964H7760H3824 19Has anything in your fields—vine, fig tree, pomegranate, olive tree—failed to flourish? From now on you can count on a blessing.'"H2233H4035H1612H8384H7416H2132H6086H5375H3117H1288 20GOD's Message came a second time to Haggai on that most memorable day, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month:H8145H1697H3068H2292H702H6242H2320H559 21"Speak to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah: "'I am about to shake up everything, to turn everything upside down and start over from top to bottom—H559H2216H6346H3063H559H7493H8064H776 22overthrow governments, destroy foreign powers, dismantle the world of weapons and armaments, throw armies into confusion, so that they end up killing one another.H2015H3678H4467H8045H2392H4467H1471H2015H4818H7392H5483H7392H3381H376H2719H251 23And on that day'"—this is GOD's Message—"'I will take you, O Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, as my personal servant and I will set you as a signet ring, the sign of my sovereign presence and authority. I've looked over the field and chosen you for this work.'" The Message of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies.H3117H5002H3068H6635H3947H2216H5650H1121H7597H5002H3068H7760H2368H977H5002H3068H6635
The Message (MSG). All Scripture quotations are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries.
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