Zerubbabel

1The seventh month came. The people of Israel were living in their towns. They all came together in Jerusalem, like one person.

And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.

NoteThese people had been carried far away to another land. Now they were back home in their own towns. The seventh month came in the fall. It was a special month with holidays in it.

2Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and the other priests stood up. Priests were men who led worship and gave gifts to God. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his helpers stood up too. They built an altar for the God of Israel. An altar is a stone table for offerings. They would burn animal gifts on it, just as the law of Moses said. Moses was a leader God had chosen long before.

Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

NoteA priest was a man whose job was to lead worship. Priests gave people's gifts to God at the altar. An altar was a big stone table for those gifts. Moses had led the people long before this. The rules Moses wrote down are called the law of Moses.

3They set the altar on its base where it belonged. They were afraid of the people living around them. Still they burned offerings to the LORD on the altar. They did this every morning and every evening.

And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.

NoteA burnt offering was an animal given to God and burned. The smoke going up was the gift. Doing it morning and evening was the daily rule. The people living nearby did not want this building work. That is why the builders were afraid.

4They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, just as the law said. It helped them remember their long journey through the desert. Each day they gave the right number of offerings.

They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;

NoteThe Feast of Tabernacles was a holiday about a week long. Families slept outside in little huts made of branches. It reminded them of camping long ago in the desert. God had cared for them the whole way.

5After that they gave the regular offerings each day. They also gave offerings at the start of each new month. They gave offerings at all the special holy feasts too. And they brought gifts they simply wanted to give.

And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.

NoteTheir months began when a thin new moon showed in the sky. That day had its own special gifts to God. A freewill offering was a gift nobody had to bring. People gave it just because they wanted to.

6They started giving offerings to the LORD on the first day of the seventh month. But the base of the temple had not been laid yet.

From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.

NoteThe temple was God's special house in Jerusalem. The old one had been knocked down by enemies. Now the people wanted to build it again.

7They paid money to the stone workers and to craftsmen, people who make things with their hands. They gave food, drink, and olive oil to the men of Sidon and Tyre. Those men were to bring cedar logs down from Lebanon. The logs would come by sea to the town of Joppa. King Cyrus of Persia had given them permission to do this.

They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.

NoteSidon and Tyre were busy towns by the sea. Cedar trees are very tall, with strong sweet-smelling wood. They grew far away in the hills of Lebanon. Joppa was a harbor town where ships came in. Cyrus was the king who let these people go home.

8They had come back to God's house in Jerusalem. In the second month of the next year, the work began. Zerubbabel, Jeshua, the priests, the Levites, and all who came home started it. Levites were men who helped the priests with temple work. They chose Levites who were twenty years old or older. These men would watch over the building work.

Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.

NoteLevites came from one family group of Israel. Their job was helping the priests at God's house. They carried things, sang, and kept the building in order.

9So Jeshua worked with his sons and his brothers. Kadmiel and his sons worked with them. The sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers helped too. All of them were Levites. Together they watched over the workers on God's house.

Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.

10The builders laid the base of the temple. Then the priests put on their special clothes and took up trumpets. The Levites, the sons of Asaph, took up cymbals. Cymbals are round metal plates you clap together. They all stood ready to praise the LORD. They did it the way King David had told them long ago.

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.

NoteThe priests wore special clothes made just for temple work. Asaph had led the singing back in King David's day. His family kept doing that job for years and years. King David had made the plan for this music long before.

11They sang back and forth to each other, praising and thanking the LORD. They sang, "He is good. His faithful love for Israel lasts forever." Then all the people gave a huge shout of praise. They shouted because the base of the LORD's house was laid.

And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

NoteSinging back and forth means one group sings, another answers. It is a bit like a song with two parts.

12Many older priests, Levites, and family leaders had seen the first temple. When they saw this new base, they cried out loud. But many other people shouted with joy.

But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:

NoteThe first temple was the beautiful one King Solomon built. Enemies had burned it down many years earlier. The old men remembered it and thought this one looked small. That memory made them cry.

13The noise was so loud that no one could tell the sounds apart. The happy shouts and the crying sounded like one big noise. People far away could hear it.

So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

1Some people nearby did not like Judah and Benjamin. They heard that the people who had come home from far away were building a temple. This one was for the LORD, the God of Israel.

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;

NoteA temple is a special building where people came to worship God. These people had been taken far away to another country. Now they were back home in their own land.

2So they came to Zerubbabel and to the leaders of the families. They said, "Let us build with you. We look for your God, just like you do. We have brought gifts to him ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here."

Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.

NoteBringing gifts to God meant giving him animals and grain. Assyria was a strong country with a big army. Its kings moved whole groups of people away from their homes.

3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel said no. They said, "You have no part in building a house for our God. We will build it ourselves for the LORD, the God of Israel. King Cyrus of Persia told us to do it."

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

NoteCyrus was the king of Persia, a very large and powerful country. He was the one who let these people go home and build again.

4So the people of that land tried to stop them. They made the people of Judah lose heart and feel afraid to build.

Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

Note"The people of that land" were folks living nearby. Some had moved in while the Jews were away. To "lose heart" means to feel too sad and tired to keep going.

5They paid officials to work against them and spoil their plans. They kept doing this all through the time of King Cyrus of Persia. It went on until Darius became king of Persia.

And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

NoteThey gave money to important men so they would speak against the builders. Kings listened to men like that. Cyrus and Darius were both kings of Persia, one after the other.

1Two prophets spoke to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. Their names were Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. They spoke in the name of the God of Israel.

Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.

NoteA prophet is a person who tells others what God says. Judah was the land around the city of Jerusalem. The Jews were the people who lived there.

2So Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak got up. They began to build God's house in Jerusalem again. God's prophets were right there helping them.

Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.

NoteGod's house means the temple, the building where people worshiped God. It had been knocked down many years before this. That is why they were building it again.

1Darius was the king. In his second year, on the first day of the sixth month, God spoke. He gave his message to Haggai, a prophet, someone who tells people what God says. The message was for Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor, the leader of Judah. It was also for Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest, the chief priest.

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,

NoteDarius was king of Persia, a huge and powerful country far away. Judah was a small land that his kingdom ruled. A governor was the leader put in charge of a land like Judah. Priests were the men who helped people worship God at his house. The high priest was the one in charge of all the other priests. The sixth month came near the end of summer.

2The LORD, who leads heaven's armies, said this. "These people say it is not yet time to build my house again."

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.

NoteThe King James says "the LORD of hosts." Hosts is an old word for armies. God's house means the temple in Jerusalem. It was the special building where people came to worship God. Years before, an enemy army burned it down. The people were carried far away to another country. Now they had come home, but the temple was still a pile of stones.

3Then the LORD spoke again through Haggai the prophet. This is what he said.

Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,

4"Is it time for you to live in your nice wooden houses? My house is still a pile of ruins."

Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?

NoteThe King James says "cieled houses." That means walls lined with smooth wooden boards. Wood like that cost a lot of money. Only a finished, comfortable house had it.

5So the LORD, who leads heaven's armies, says this. "Think carefully about how you are living."

Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

6"You plant many seeds, but you gather only a little food. You eat, but you are still hungry. You drink, but you are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but you never get warm. You earn money, and it slips through a bag full of holes."

Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

NotePeople carried their coins in a small cloth bag. They tied the bag to their belt. A bag with holes in it lost every coin.

7The LORD, who leads heaven's armies, says it again. "Think carefully about how you are living."

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

8"Go up into the hills. Bring back wood. Build my house. Then I will be happy with it, and people will honor me," says the LORD.

Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.

NoteThere were no stores that sold wood. You walked up into the hills and cut down trees. Then you carried the logs all the way back.

9"You hoped for a big harvest. It turned out small. What you brought home, I blew away. Why? says the LORD, who leads heaven's armies. Because my house is still in ruins. Meanwhile each of you runs to your own house."

Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.

NoteA hot wind could dry a crop or blow the grain away. Here God says he was the one doing the blowing.

10"That is why the sky above you holds back its dew. That is why the ground holds back its crops."

Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.

NoteIn that land almost no rain fell during the summer. Dew is the water that wets plants during the night. Farmers there needed that dew very much.

11"I called for a long time with no rain. It came on the fields and the hills. It came on the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil. It came on everything the ground grows. It came on people and on farm animals. It came on all the work your hands do."

And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.

NoteThe King James word "corn" means grain, like wheat or barley. It does not mean yellow corn on a cob. Grain, wine, and olive oil were the three main foods there.

12Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest, listened. So did all the people who were left. They obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet. The LORD their God had sent him. And the people showed deep respect for the LORD.

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.

Note"The remnant of the people" means the ones who were left. Many had died, and many stayed in the faraway country. Only a small group came home to Judah. The word "fear" here does not mean being scared. It means deep respect for someone very great.

13Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave the LORD's message to the people. He said, "I am with you," says the LORD.

Then spake Haggai the LORD’s messenger in the LORD’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.

14So the LORD stirred up the hearts of the people to work. He stirred up Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah. He stirred up Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest. He stirred up all the people who were left. They came and began working on the house of the LORD, who leads heaven's armies, their God.

And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,

NoteTo stir up someone's spirit means to make them want to act. The people had felt tired and slow about the work. Now they were ready to begin.

15This was on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. It was the second year that Darius was king.

In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

NoteThis was twenty-three days after Haggai's first message. The people started the work very quickly.

1It was the twenty-first day of the seventh month. God gave a message to Haggai. Haggai was a prophet, someone who told people what God said.

In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,

NotePeople then counted months by the moon, not like our calendar. The seventh month came in the fall, after the harvest.

2God said, "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the ruler of Judah. Speak to Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest, the chief priest. Speak to all the people who are left."

Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,

NoteYears before, enemies had carried these people far away to Babylon. Some had come back home again. They were the ones who were left. Zerubbabel was their ruler, but a bigger king ruled over him.

3"Ask them: Who here saw this house, God's temple, when it was grand long ago? How does it look to you now? Does it look like nothing next to that?"

Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?

NoteLong ago King Solomon built a temple here for God. It was huge and shining with gold. Enemies knocked it down about seventy years before this day. Only a few very old people still remembered it.

4"But now be strong, Zerubbabel," says the LORD. "Be strong, Joshua the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land. Get to work. I am with you," says the LORD, the God who leads the armies of heaven.

Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:

NoteWhen you see LORD in big letters, it stands for God's own special name.

5"This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit is still here with you. Do not be afraid."

According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.

NoteLong ago God's people were slaves in the land of Egypt. God brought them out and promised to stay with them always.

6The LORD of heaven's armies says this: "Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will shake the sea and the dry land."

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

NoteTo shake the heavens and the earth means God will change everything. Even the strongest kingdoms will be shaken loose.

7"I will shake all the nations. They will come and bring their treasures. I will fill this house with glory, my shining greatness," says the LORD of heaven's armies.

And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

8"All the silver is mine. All the gold is mine," says the LORD of heaven's armies.

The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.

9"Later, the glory of this house will be greater than before," says the LORD of heaven's armies. "And in this place I will give peace," says the LORD of heaven's armies.

The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

NotePeace here means more than no fighting. It means everything is safe and whole and good. Glory means shining greatness.

20God gave Haggai one more message that same day, the twenty-fourth day of the month.

And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,

21"Tell Zerubbabel, the ruler of Judah: I am going to shake the heavens and the earth."

Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;

22"I will turn over the thrones of kings. I will break the power of other nations. I will turn over their chariots, the carts they ride in battle. Horses and riders will fall. Each one will die by his own brother's sword."

And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.

NoteDying by his own brother's sword means the soldiers get mixed up. In the noise of battle they swing at their own side.

23"On that day," says the LORD of heaven's armies, "I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant. I will make you like my signet ring. I have chosen you," says the LORD of heaven's armies.

In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.

NoteA signet ring had a picture carved into it. A king pressed the ring into soft wax on a letter. The mark showed the letter really came from him. A king kept his ring safe on his own hand.

6Then he said, "This is the LORD's message for Zerubbabel. The work will not be done by armies. It will not be done by human strength. It will be done by my Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts, the God who rules over all."

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

NoteThe temple was the special building where God's people worshiped him. Enemies had knocked it down. Now Zerubbabel was in charge of building it again. "My spirit" means God's own power doing the work. Zerubbabel was the leader in charge of building the temple again.

7"Who do you think you are, big mountain? In front of Zerubbabel you will become flat ground. He will bring out the top stone of the building. People will shout, 'Grace! Grace to it!'"

Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

NoteA mountain is something far too big to move out of the way. Here it stands for a huge problem. The top stone was the last stone set in place, so putting it in meant the building was finished. "Grace" means a kind gift that nobody had to earn.

8Then the LORD's message came to me again. He said:

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

9"Zerubbabel's hands laid the base of this temple. His hands will also finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts sent me to you."

The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.

NoteThe base of a building is the bottom part. Builders lay it first. Everything else is built on top of it.

10"Who has looked down on this small beginning? They will be glad when they see Zerubbabel holding the builder's plumb line. Those seven are the eyes of the LORD. They look all over the earth."

For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

NoteA plumb line is a string with a weight tied on the end. Builders hang it beside a wall to see if the wall is straight. Some people thought this new temple was starting out too small to matter.