14. Then Haggai said, ‘ “So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,” declares the Lord. “Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.
15. ‘ “Now give careful thought to this from this day on – consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple.
16. When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty.
17. I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord.
18. “From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought:
19. is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig-tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.‘ “From this day on I will bless you.” ’
20. The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month:
21. ‘Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth.
22. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.
23. ‘ “On that day,” declares the Lord Almighty, “I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,” declares the Lord, “and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,” declares the Lord Almighty.’Footnotes for the Book of Haggaia 2 Hebrew Jehozadak, a variant of Jozadak; also in verse 4b 15 Or to the days past