A Call to Rebuild the Temple (Ezra 5:1–5)
1 UEB In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, saying, BSB BSB: In the second year of the reign of Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, stating
2 UEB "Yahweh of hosts says this: These people say, 'It is not time for us to come or to build Yahweh's house.'" BSB BSB: that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.’”
3 UEB Then the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet, saying:
4 UEB "Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your finished houses, while this house lies ruined? BSB BSB: “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”
5 UEB So now Yahweh of hosts says this: Consider your ways! BSB BSB: Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.
6 UEB You have sown much seed, but bring in little harvest; you eat but do not have enough; you drink but cannot get drunk. You wear clothes but cannot warm yourselves, and the wage earner earns money only to put it into a bag full of holes! BSB BSB: You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”
7 UEB Yahweh of hosts says this: "Consider your ways! BSB BSB: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.
8 UEB Go up to the mountain, bring timber, and build my house; then I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified!—says Yahweh." BSB BSB: Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the LORD.
9 UEB "You looked for much, but behold! you have brought little home, for I blew it away! Why?" declares Yahweh of hosts. "Because my house lies in ruins, while every one of you is working on his own house. BSB BSB: You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.
10 UEB Because of this the heavens withhold the dew from you, and the earth withholds its produce. BSB BSB: Therefore, on account of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth has withheld its crops.
11 UEB I have summoned a drought upon the land and upon the mountains, upon the grain and upon the new wine, upon the oil and upon the harvest of the earth, upon men and upon beasts, and upon all the labor of your hands!" BSB BSB: I have summoned a drought on the fields and on the mountains, on the grain, new wine, and oil, and on whatever the ground yields, on man and beast, and on all the labor of your hands.”
The People Obey 12 UEB Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, along with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, because Yahweh their God had sent him and the people feared the face of Yahweh. BSB BSB: Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. So the people feared the LORD.
13 UEB Then Haggai, the messenger of Yahweh, spoke Yahweh's message to the people and said, "I am with you!—this is Yahweh's declaration!" BSB BSB: Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, delivered the message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD.
14 UEB So Yahweh stirred up the spirit of the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and the spirit of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, so that they went and worked on the house of Yahweh of hosts, their God BSB BSB: So the LORD stirred the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and began the work on the house of the LORD of Hosts, their God,
15 UEB in the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king. BSB BSB: on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.