The Coming Glory of God’s House

1And in the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the Lord came, by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying: 2Speak to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Jesus the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remainder of the people, saying: 3Who is left among you, who saw this house in its first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not, in comparison to that, as nothing in your eyes? 4And now be strengthened, Zerubbabel, says the Lord. And be strengthened, Jesus the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And be strengthened, all people of the land, says the Lord of hosts. For I am with you, says the Lord of hosts. 5And act according to the word that I planted with you when you departed from the land of Egypt. And my Spirit will be in your midst. Do not be afraid. 6For thus says the Lord of hosts: There is yet one brief time, and I will move heaven and earth, and the sea and the dry land. 7And I will move all nations. And the Desired of all nations will arrive. And I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8Mine is the silver, and mine is the gold, says the Lord of hosts. 9Great shall be the glory of this house, the last more than the first, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place, I will bestow peace, says the Lord of hosts.

Blessings for a Defiled People

10On the twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of king Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying: 11Thus says the Lord of hosts: the priests question the law, saying: 12If a man will have carried sanctified flesh in the pocket of his garment, and the top of it touches his bread, or appetizer, or wine, or oil, or any food, shall it be sanctified? But the priests responded by saying, “No.” 13And Haggai said, “If the polluted in soul will have touched any of all these things, shall it be contaminated?” And the priests responded and said, “It shall be contaminated.” 14And Haggai answered and he said: Such is this people, and such is this nation before my face, says the Lord, and such is all the work of their hands. And so all that they have offered there has been contaminated. 15And now, consider in your hearts, from this day and beyond, before stone may be placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord: 16when you approached a pile of twenty measures, and they became ten, and you entered to the press, to press out fifty bottles, and they became twenty, 17how I struck you with a burning wind, and a mildew, and a hailstorm, all the works of your hand, yet there was no one among you who returned to me, says the Lord. 18Set your hearts from this day and into the future, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundations of the temple of the Lord have been uttered, and place it upon your heart. 19Has the seed been germinated yet? And has the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree still not flourished? From this day on, I will bless you.

Zerubbabel the LORD’s Signet Ring

20And the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai, on the twenty-fourth of the month, saying: 21Speak to Zerubbabel the governor of Judah, saying: I will move both heaven and earth. 22And I will overturn the throne of kingdoms, and I will crush the strength of the kingdom of the Gentiles. And I will overturn the four-horse chariot, and its rider; and the horses and their riders shall be brought down, a man by the sword of his brother. 23In that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, my servant, says the Lord, and will set you like a seal, for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts.