<p class="bodytext">Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, &#8220;I found the law scroll in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.&#8221; Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation<n id="1" /> and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds;<n id="2" /> they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple.

Now the king of Syria had ordered his chariot commanders, &#8220;Do not fight common soldiers or high ranking officers;<n id="1" /> fight only the king of Israel!&#8221;

They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the silver that had been brought to God&#8217;s temple. The Levites who guarded the door had collected it from the people of<n id="1" /> Manasseh and Ephraim and from all who were left in Israel, as well as from all the people of<n id="2" /> Judah and Benjamin and the residents of<n id="3" /> Jerusalem.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then Eliashib the high priest and his priestly colleagues<n id="1" /> arose and built the Sheep Gate. They dedicated<n id="2" /> it and erected its doors, working as far as the Tower of the Hundred<n id="3" /> and<n id="4" /> the Tower of Hananel.

When I had made an inspection,<n id="1" /> I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord,<n id="2" /> and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things &#8211; wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full<n id="1" /> and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;So now, our God &#8211; the great, powerful, and awesome God, who keeps covenant fidelity<n id="1" /> &#8211; do not regard as inconsequential<n id="2" /> all the hardship that has befallen us &#8211; our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people &#8211; from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day!

<p class="bodytext">The chief adviser said to them, &#8220;Tell Hezekiah: &#8216;This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: &#8220;What is your source of confidence?<n id="1" />

&#8220;I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength,<n id="1" /> and I give it to whomever I see fit.<n id="2" />

&#8216;Oh, Lord <sc>Godsc>,<n id="1" /> you did indeed<n id="2" /> make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength.<n id="3" /> Nothing is too hard for you!

Say to them: &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;A great eagle<n id="2" /> with broad wings, long feathers,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">with full plumage which was multi-hued,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">came to Lebanon<n id="5" /> and took the top of the cedar.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;And you, son of man, prophesy,p> <p class="poetry">and clap your hands together.p> <p class="poetry">Let the sword strike twice, even three times!p> <p class="poetry">It is a sword for slaughter,p> <p class="poetry">a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.p>

Tell them, &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;Look, I am against<n id="1" /> you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,p> <p class="poetry">the great monster<n id="2" /> lying in the midst of its waterways,p> <p class="poetry">who has said, &#8220;My Nile is my own, I made it for myself.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

I will magnify<n id="1" /> my great name that has been profaned among the nations, that you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the <sc>Lord,sc> declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>, when I magnify myself among you in their sight.p>

Fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to En-eglaim they will spread nets. They will catch many kinds of fish, like the fish of the Great Sea.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">&#8220;At that time Michael,p> <p class="poetry">the great prince who watches over your people,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">will arise.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">There will be a time of distressp> <p class="poetry">unlike any other from the nation&#8217;s beginning<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">up to that time.p> <p class="poetry">But at that time your own people,p> <p class="poetry">all those whose names are<n id="4" /> found written in the book,p> <p class="poetry">will escape.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">On the first day of the sixth month<n id="1" /> of King Darius&#8217;<n id="2" /> second year, the <sc>Lordsc> spoke this message through the prophet Haggai<n id="3" /> to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak:<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak,<n id="1" /> along with the whole remnant of the people,<n id="2" /> obeyed<n id="3" /> the <sc>Lordsc> their God. They responded favorably to the message of the prophet Haggai, who spoke just as the <sc>Lordsc> their God had instructed him,<n id="4" /> and the people began to respect the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="5" />

So the <sc>Lordsc> energized and encouraged<n id="1" /> Zerubbabel<n id="2" /> son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak,<n id="3" /> and the whole remnant of the people.<n id="4" /> They came and worked on the temple of their God, the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.