¹⁴ So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching^(A) of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus,^(B) Darius^(C) and Artaxerxes,^(D) kings of Persia.

A Call to Build the House of the Lord

1 In the second year of King Darius,^(A) on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai^(B) to Zerubbabel^(C) son of Shealtiel, governor^(D) of Judah, and to Joshua^(E) son of Jozadak,^[a](F) the high priest:^(G)

³ Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:^(A)

¹² Then Zerubbabel^(A) son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant^(B) of the people obeyed^(C) the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared^(D) the Lord.

2 ¹ on the twenty-first day of the seventh month,^(A) the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:^(B)

Blessings for a Defiled People

¹⁰ On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,^(A) in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai:

Zerubbabel the Lord’s Signet Ring

²⁰ The word of the Lord came to Haggai^(A) a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month:^(B)