1 In the second year of the reign of king Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the Lord sent a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 2 The Lord Almighty says this: the people say, “This isn't the proper time to rebuild the Lord's house.” 3 Then the Lord sent a message through the prophet Haggai, saying, 4 Is it the proper time for you to live in your paneled houses while this house remains a ruin? 5 So the Lord Almighty says this: Think about what you're doing! 6 You have sown much but harvested little. You eat but you're still hungry. You drink but you're still thirsty. You put on clothes but you're still cold. You work hard to earn money but put it in a bag full of holes. 7 The Lord Almighty says this: Think about what you're doing! 8 Go into the hills and bring wood to build the house. This will please me and honor me, says the Lord. 9 You were hoping for so much, but look, it turned out to be so little. Everything you brought home I blew away. And why was that? Because my house remains a ruin while you are preoccupied with building your own houses, declares the Lord Almighty. 10 That's why the clouds of heaven refused to send rain, and the earth refused to produce crops. 11 I called for a drought on the land, on the hills, on the grain fields, on the vineyards, and on the olive groves—on whatever the earth produces—and on people and livestock, on everything you do! 12 Then Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, together with all the remaining people, paid attention to what the Lord said, and to the words of Haggai the prophet that the Lord their God had sent. The people showed reverence before the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, delivered this message from the Lord telling the people, I am with you! says the Lord. 14 The Lord inspired Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the remaining people. They came and began work on the house of the Lord Almighty. 15 This happened on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of the reign of king Darius.
Haggai 1 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Haggai
Prophet who, with Zechariah, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem and helped Zerubbabel and Jeshua as the temple was rebuilt. The word of the LORD came through him in the…
Cited in the guide: Ezra 5:1; Ezra 6:14; Haggai 1:1
Shealtiel
A son of the exiled king, a link between fallen throne and hoped-for return.
Cited in the guide: 1 Chron. 3:17; Ezra 3:2; Hag. 1:1; Matt. 1:12; Luke 3:27
Cross references (15)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ezra 2:2; Ezra 3:2; Ezra 3:8; Nehemiah 7:7; Haggai 2:10
- 2 Ezra 4:23–5:2; Nehemiah 4:10; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Ecclesiastes 11:4; Song of Songs 5:2–3
- 3 Ezra 5:1; Zechariah 1:1
- 4 2 Samuel 7:2; Psalm 132:3–5; Philippians 2:21; Haggai 1:9; Matthew 6:33
- 5 Lamentations 3:40; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Haggai 2:15–18; Haggai 1:7; Luke 15:17
- 6 Haggai 1:9; Hosea 4:10; Deuteronomy 28:38–40; Haggai 2:16; Hosea 8:7
- 7 Psalm 119:59–60; Haggai 1:5; Philippians 3:1
- 8 Psalm 132:13–14; 2 Chronicles 7:16; 2 Chronicles 2:8–10; Haggai 2:7; 1 Kings 9:3
- 9 Haggai 1:4; Malachi 2:2; Haggai 2:16–17; Revelation 3:19; Psalm 77:5–10
- 10 1 Kings 8:35; Leviticus 26:19; 1 Kings 17:1; Deuteronomy 28:23–24; Joel 1:18–20
- 11 Haggai 2:17; Deuteronomy 28:22; 2 Kings 8:1; 1 Kings 17:1; Amos 5:8
- 12 Isaiah 50:10; Haggai 1:14; Psalm 112:1; Ezra 5:2; Ecclesiastes 12:13
- 13 Isaiah 43:2; Matthew 28:20; Malachi 3:1; Romans 8:31; Psalm 46:11
- 14 2 Chronicles 36:22; Hebrews 13:21; Haggai 1:1; Haggai 2:21; Ezra 1:5
- 15 Haggai 1:1; Haggai 2:20; Haggai 2:1; Haggai 2:10
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For if the Word be not in their hands, why is it written, "The Word of the Lord was put in the hand of the Prophet Haggai"? Surely, brethren, God set not His Word in His fingers.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)