Study Desk

I have called for a time without rain on the land, and on the mountains, and on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, the plants which the earth produces, the people, the farm animals, and all the work of your hands."

"This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘Ask the priests for a teaching.

Suppose a person carries in the fold of his clothes some meat made holy for the Lord . If that fold touches bread, cooked food, wine, olive oil, or some other food, will that be made holy?'" The priests answered, "No."

Then Haggai answered, "The Lord says, ‘This is also true for the people of this nation. They are unclean, and everything they do with their hands is unclean to me. Whatever they offer at the altar is also unclean.

Do you have seeds for crops still in the barn? Your vines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not given fruit yet. But from now on I will bless you!'"

I commanded my words and laws to my servants the prophets, and they preached to your ancestors, who returned to me. They said, ‘The Lord All-Powerful did as he said he would. He punished us for the way we lived and for what we did.'"

Then the Lord 's angel asked, " Lord All-Powerful, how long will it be before you show mercy to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You have been angry with them for seventy years now."

Then the angel who was talking to me said to me, "Announce this: This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘I have a strong love for Jerusalem.

I asked, "What are they coming to do?" He answered, "They have come to scare and throw down the horns. These horns scattered the people of Judah so that no one could even lift up his head. These horns stand for the nations that attacked the people of Judah and scattered them."

Then I looked up and saw a man holding a line for measuring things.

He asked me, "What do you see?" I said, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top. And there are seven lamps and also seven places for wicks.

The angel said, "The woman stands for wickedness." Then he pushed her back into the basket and put the lid back down.

"They are going to Babylonia to build a temple for it," he answered. "When the temple is ready, they will set the basket there in its place."

They went to the prophets and priests who were at the Temple of the Lord All-Powerful. The men said, "For years in the fifth month of each year we have shown our sadness and fasted. Should we continue to do this?"

"Tell the priests and the people in the land: ‘For seventy years you fasted and cried in the fifth and seventh months, but that was not really for me.

And when you ate and drank, it was really for yourselves.

This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "I have a very strong love for Jerusalem. My strong love for her is like a fire burning in me."

This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Those who are left alive then may think it is too difficult to happen, but it is not too difficult for me," says the Lord All-Powerful.

This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Work hard, you who are hearing these words today. The prophets spoke these words when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord All-Powerful, for the building of the Temple.

People from one city will go and say to those from another city, ‘We are going to pray to the Lord and to ask the Lord All-Powerful for help. Come and go with us.'