1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Sovereign} came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor {pachat: appointed provincial leader} of Judah and to Joshua son of Jehozadak the chief priest, saying:
2 Thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Commander of Armies}: “This people say, ‘It is not the time {et: appointed season} for the house of the LORD to be built.’”
3 And the word of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Keeper} came by the hand of Haggai {haggay: Festal One}, the prophet, saying,
4 Is it time for you to dwell in your paneled houses {sefunim: paneled with costly wood}, while this house is desolate {kharev: laid waste}?
5 And now, thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH tsevaot, Commander of Armies}: "Set your heart upon your ways {levavkhem: innermost thoughts}."
6 You have sown much but gather little; you eat but have not enough to satisfy {lesaveʿah: complete fullness}; you drink but do not reach fullness {leshokrah: to the full}; you clothe yourselves but have no warmth; and the one earning wages earns them only to put into a bag with holes.
7 Thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsvaot, Commander of Armies}: “Set your heart {levav: inner will} upon your ways.”
8 Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified {ekavdah: honored}, says the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Lord}.
9 You turned toward abundance, yet behold, it yielded only a little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts {YHWH tsevaot, Commander of Armies}. Because My house {beiti: temple structure} stands in ruin, and you each run to your own house.
10 Therefore, the heavens above you have withheld the dew {mital: seasonal moisture}, and the earth has withheld its produce {yevulah: agricultural yield}.
11 And I called for a drought {chorev: severe dryness} upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground brings forth, and upon man, and upon beast, and upon all the labor of the hands {kappayim: manual toil}.
12 And Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice {beqol: authoritative summons} of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Restorer} their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
13 And Haggai, the messenger of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Speaker}, spoke the commissioned message {mal'akhut: commissioned message} of the LORD to the people, saying, “I am with you,” declares the LORD.
14 And the LORD {YHWH, Motivator of Divine Activity} stirred up the spirit {ruach: inner drive} of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did the work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God.
15 On the twenty-fourth day {yom: temporal indicator} of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year {shnat shtayim: regnal dating} of Darius the king.