“The people of Judah, or a prophet, or a priest may ask you, ‘Jeremiah, what is the announcement of the Lord?’ You will answer them and say, ‘You are a heavy load {\cf2\super [194]} to the Lord. And I will throw down this heavy load.’ This message is from the Lord.
On the first day of the sixth month of Darius’ second year as king \{of Persia\}, Haggai received a message from the Lord. This message was for Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak. Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah and Joshua was the high priest. This is the message:
A message from God. This is the Lord’s message against Hadrach’s country and his capital city, Damascus. “The family groups of Israel are not the only people that know about God. Everyone looks to him for help. {\cf2\super [23]}
The people of Judah cheated other people. People in Jerusalem and Israel did terrible things! God loves the temple. {\cf2\super [13]} But the people in Judah didn’t respect the Lord’s holy temple. The people of Judah began to worship that foreign goddess!