Haggai (Translated)

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## Chapter 1[edit]

Verse  | King James Version  | Proposed Conservative Translation  | Analysis

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1  | 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,  | On the first day of the sixth month of the second year of the reign of Darius I of Persia, the prophet Haggai told what the Lord God had said to him to Zerubbabel, who was the son of Shealtiel, then governor of Judah, and Joshua, son of Josedech, who was high priest.  | I suspect giving Darius' basic detail could be very useful, as there were several, and historical context is good to know.
2  | 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.  | The God of the angelic hosts says "The people say it's not time to build the Lord's temple."  |
3  | Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,  | Then Haggai was inspired by the message of the Lord:  |
4  | Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?  | "Is it really time for all of you to rest in your vaulted homes while this house remains like this?"  | "This house" is the temple in Jerusalem. Haggai's prophecy dates from shortly after the return of the Jews from exile in Babylon (c.520BC) and is an exhortation to speed up the rebuilding the temple.
5  | Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.  | "So the Lord tells you, 'consider what you are doing.'"  |
6  | 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.  | "You've sown much grain, but don't harvest much. You eat, but don't have enough to eat. You drink, but are still thirsty. You dress yourselves, but can't get warm. And the man who earns a wage puts them in a bag full of holes."  |
7  | Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.  | "So the Lord tells you, 'consider what you are doing.'"  | The repetition is really quite powerful
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, saith the LORD.  | "'Bring wood up the mountain and build a house there, and I will appreciate it and be glorified by it,' says the Lord."  |
9  | 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.  | "'You looked for a great return but it resulted in nothing. When you brought it home, I blew on it. Why?" says the Lord of the angels, 'Because my house is a ruin, and every man among you runs into his own house.'"  | Maybe I don't understand what "something fancy" means in American English but the first phrase implies that those addressed are looking for a great return (presumably from their crops).
10  | Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.  | "'For this reason, the skies above won't rain, and the earth holds back its harvest.'"  |
11  | 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.  | "'I brought a drought upon the land, the mountains and grain, upon the new wine, the oil and the crops, upon men, cattle, and on all your labor.'"  | Some improvements to this verse. 1. In British English, "corn" means any kind of cereal, not just maize, including green plants as well as the grain. But grain is OK because... 2. "The ground itself" isn't a good translation of the phrase translated by KJV as "that which the ground bringeth forth". It means plants/crops rather than the soil. 3. There's no sense of the labour being "of men" (as opposed to anyone, male or female, working on the land).
12  | 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.  | Zerubbabel, Joshua, and everyone else there, obeyed the voice of God as it was brought by Haggai's words, and were overawed by and feared the Lord.  | patronymics needn't be repeated unless it adds to the message
13  | Then spake Haggai the LORD's messenger in the LORD's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.  | Then Haggai, God's messenger, finished the message to the people, "God says, 'I am with you.'"  |
14  | 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,  | The Lord roused Zerubbabel and Joshua's spirits, along with those of the others there, and they restored the house of the Lord of hosts, God,  |
15  | In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.  | On the twenty fourth day of that month.  |

## Chapter 2[edit]

Verse  | King James Version  | Proposed Conservative Translation  | Analysis

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1  | In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,  | On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the Lord's voice returned to the prophet Haggai, saying,  |
2  | 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,  | "Speak to the governor of Judah, Zerubabel, son of Shealtiel, as well as the high priest Joshua, son of Josedech, and to the people, and say:"  |
3  | 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?  | "Is there anyone remaining who saw this house when it was glorious and new? How does it look now? Isn't it worthless in comparison?"  |
4  | 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:  | "But take heart, Zerubbabel," says the Lord, "and be strong, Joshua, son of Josedech, high priest. Be courageous, all of you people of this land, and work diligently, for I am with you."  |
5  | According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.  | "According to the law which I established with you right after the exodus from Egypt, so my spirits stays among you. Don't fear."  |
6  | 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;  | "For this is said by the Lord of the angels. But at one time, some time yet to come, I will shake the heavens, earth, sea, and the land."  |
7  | 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.  | "I will shake all the nations of the earth, and that which is desired by all nations will occur: this house will overflow with glory," says the Lord of hosts.  |
8  | The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.  | "Both silver and gold belong to me," says the Lord of the hosts.  |
9  | 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.  | The Lord says, "The glory of this new house will exceed the former, and I will give this place peace."  |
10  | In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,  | On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, during the second year of Darius' reign, the Lord God's voice came to the prophet Haggai.  |
11  | Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,  | The Lord said, "Ask the priests about the law, like so:"  |
12  | If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.  | "Should one carries holy flesh in the skirt of his clothes, but the skirt touches bread, pottery, wine, oil, or meat, is it still holy?" The priests answered that it wasn't.  |
13  | Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.  | So Haggai replied, "If someone made unclean by a dead body touches any of those things, will it be unclean?" The priests answered that yes, it would be.  |
14  | Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.  | So Haggai answered, "In the same way, this people and the nation before me, and everything they touch and offer is unclean, so says the Lord."  |
15  | And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:  | "So now, I pray you, remember from this day that time before a single stone was laid in the temple of the Lord."  |
16  | Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.  | "When someone went to find a collection of grain twenty measures large, it was only ten. When he went to the wine cellar to get fifty vessels worth of wine, there were only twenty."  | heaps and pressfats antiquated.
17  | I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.  | "I brought down hot winds, disease and hail upon your crops, destroying the work of your hands, but you didn't turn to me, says the Lord."  | The words translated as 'blasting' and 'mildew' in KJV are fairly obscure. The 'blasting' word probably means hot east winds from the desert, which desiccate crops. The 'mildew' word probably refers to plants rotting. I've inserted 'upon your crops' which is obvious in the context of the original Hebrew but not to modern readers. The verse refers to Deut 28:22.
18  | Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider it.  | "So remember this day from now on, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the very day when the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid."  |
19  | Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.  | "Is there still grain in the barn? Just as the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree have yet to produce fruit, from this day onward, I will bless you."  |
20  | And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,  | Once again the word of the Lord came to Haggain on the twenty-fourth day of the month:  |
21  | Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;  | "Talk to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and tell him that I will shake the very heavens and earth."  |
22  | 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.  | "That I will topple the rulers of kingdoms, destroy the strength of unfaithful nations, that I will destroy their chariots and riders, and the horses and riders will be killed by their brother's sword."  |
23  | 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.  | "On that day," said the Lord of the hosts, "I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel, and make you like a seal of authority, because I have chosen you."  | Signet = signet ring, not cygnet (young swan). The verse states that God has appointed Zerubbabel to exercise authority in Jerusalem.