Carefully consider from now on, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day when the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. Carefully consider:
“Zerubbabel’s hands have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you.
Seeds will thrive in peacetime. Vines will produce their grapes. The land will yield its crops. The sky will produce its dew. I will give the few remaining people all these things as an inheritance.
This is what the Lord of Armies says: Be strong so that the temple might be rebuilt, you people who are presently listening to the words from the mouths of the prophets who spoke when the foundation for the house of the Lord of Armies was laid.