14 \{Then the Lord God made the people excited about building the temple\}. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel was the governor of Judah. The Lord made him excited! Joshua son of Jehozadak was the high priest. The Lord made him excited! And the Lord made all the people excited \{about building the temple\}. So they began working on the temple {\cf2\super [5]} of their God, the Lord All-Powerful.
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,
14 And the Lord aroused the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, so that they came and labored on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,
14 And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work on the house of Jehovah of hosts, their God,
14 The LORD moved the spirit of Judah’s governor Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, and the spirit of the high priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son, and the spirit of all the rest of the people. Then they came and did work on the house of the LORD of heavenly forces, their God,
14 And the Lord stirred the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Jesus the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the remainder of all the people. And they entered and performed work in the house of the Lord of hosts their God,
14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zorobabel the son of Salathiel governor of Juda, and the spirit of Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people: and they went in, and did the work in the house of the Lord of hosts their God.
The God of Israel made Pul want to go to war. Pul was the king of Assyria. He was also called Tiglath Pileser. He fought against the people from the family groups of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad. He forced them to leave their homes and made them prisoners. Pul brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and near the Gozan River. Those family groups from Israel have lived in those places since that time until today.
During the first year that Cyrus {\cf2\super [458]} was king of Persia, the Lord caused Cyrus to make a special announcement. He did this so that the things the Lord promised through Jeremiah the prophet would really happen. Cyrus sent messengers to every place in his kingdom. They carried this message:
During the first year {\cf2\super [1]} that Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord encouraged Cyrus to make an announcement. Cyrus put that announcement in writing and had it read every place in his kingdom. This happened so that the Lord’s message that was spoken through Jeremiah {\cf2\super [2]} would truly happen. This is the announcement:
So the family leaders from the family groups of Judah and Benjamin prepared to go up to Jerusalem. They were going to Jerusalem to build the Lord’s temple. Also, every person that God had encouraged got ready to go to Jerusalem.
So Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak again started working on the temple in Jerusalem. All of God’s prophets were with them and were supporting the work.
King Darius, you should know that we went to the province of Judah. We went to the temple of the great God. The people in Judah are building that temple with large stones. They are putting big wooden timbers in the walls. The work is being done with much care and the people of Judah are working very hard. They are building very fast; it will soon be done.
We built the wall of Jerusalem. We built the wall all the way around the city. But it was only half as tall as it should be. We did this much because the people worked with all their heart.
Your people will volunteer\par when you gather your army together.\par They will wear their special clothes\par and meet together early in the morning,\par Those young men will be\par \{all around you\} like dew on the ground. {\cf2\super [574]} \par
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:
The Lord God had sent Haggai to speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and to the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak. So these men and all the people listened to the voice of the Lord their God and to the words of Haggai the prophet. And the people showed their fear and respect for the Lord their God.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Don’t let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.