Download Word List - EasyEnglish Bible

Build God’s Special Building Now
An EasyEnglish Bible Version with Notes (1200 word vocabulary) on the Book of Haggai
www.easyenglish.bible
Words in boxes are comments on the text.
The translated Bible text has been through Advanced Checking.
The word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.
About this book
The *Jews were people that God chose to be his special people. But the *Jews forgot God and
they did not obey him. And so God sent them to live as slaves in a country called Babylon. After
60 years, they returned to their own country. Even then, they forgot God. But he sent Haggai to
speak to them. This book is about the message that God gave to Haggai for them. And it is
about what the people did after that.
Chapter 1
v1-2 Darius was a king. He was the king of a country called Persia. He had been king for 1 year
and 5 months. On the first day of the next month, the *Lord *Almighty spoke to Haggai. (Haggai
was a *prophet of the *Lord.) This is what the *Lord said. ‘Everyone says that this is not the right
time to build a *temple for me.’ The *Lord told Haggai that he must speak to the ruler of Judah and
to the *high *priest. The ruler was called Zerubbabel. (His father was called Shealtiel.) The *high
priest was called Joshua. (His father was called Jehozadak.) v3 So Haggai, the *prophet, told
Zerubbabel and Joshua what the *Lord had said.
v4 This was the *Lord’s message. ‘You seem to think that it is right for you to live in expensive
houses. But you still have not built my *temple. v5 But think about what has happened to you. v6
You plant seeds but not many plants grow. You never have enough food to eat. You drink but you
are still *thirsty. You put on clothes but your clothes do not keep you warm. And the money that
you get for all your work is not enough. It is like when you put your money into pockets with holes
in them. v7 Think about what has happened to you!
v8 And now, get wood from the hills to build my *temple again. I want to look at my *temple with
pleasure. I want people to *worship me there. v9 You thought that many food plants would grow in
your fields. But only a few plants grew and that disappointed you. And when you brought your food
to your home, I destroyed it. You may ask why I have done this. I did it because your first thought
was to build your own houses. But your first thought should have been to build my *temple again.
And you have not done anything about that. v10 That is why your fields are dry. That is why your
plants do not grow. v11 I have stopped the rains so that nothing will grow. Your plants will not
grow. Your cows will not have enough grass to eat. Your *vines and your *olive trees will have only
a little fruit. No young animals will be born. And you will not have any children. For all your work,
you will get nothing.’
Verse 1 tells us when Haggai spoke his message. Darius ruled as king over Persia and over
many other countries. Judah was one of those countries. It was where the *Jews lived. It was
their own country, but they were very poor. The *Lord said that they had forgotten him. And that
was why this was happening. They had chosen to build their own houses. They should have
built his *temple. He said that they must now build his *temple.
v12 Some years before this, the people had returned to live in their own country. Zerubbabel and
Joshua had returned with them. (Zerubbabel was Shealtiel’s son. Joshua was the *high priest and
he was Jehozadak’s son.) Now everyone heard the message that Haggai brought to them from the
*Lord. They were afraid because of what Haggai told them. And they all decided to obey the *Lord
their God and to *worship him. v13 Haggai was the *Lord’s *prophet. This was Haggai’s message
from the *Lord: ‘ “I am with you”, says the *Lord.’ v14 So the *Lord changed what Zerubbabel and
Joshua and the people thought. Soon, all the people wanted to build the *temple for the *Lord.
Zerubbabel and Joshua, too, wanted to build the *temple. (Zerubbabel was the ruler of Judah and
he was Shealtiel’s son. Joshua was the *high priest and he was Jehozadak’s son.) They all came
and they worked at the *temple of the *Lord *Almighty, their God. v15 And so the work began on
the 24th day of that same month. Darius had been king for more than 1 year and 5 months.
The people heard what the *Lord had said to Haggai. And then they were afraid. But the *Lord
put in their minds the thought that they should obey him. So they started to build his *temple
again.
Chapter 2
v1 On the 21st day of the next month, the *Lord spoke to Haggai, the *prophet. v2 The *Lord told
Haggai that he must speak to Zerubbabel and to Joshua. (Zerubbabel was Shealtiel’s son and he
was the ruler of Judah. Joshua was the *high priest and he was Jehozadak’s son.) The *Lord also
told Haggai that he must speak to all the people. This was the message that the *Lord sent:
v3 ‘Some of the people will remember that my *temple was once very beautiful. You think that it is
really not beautiful now. v4 But now, be strong and brave, Zerubbabel! And be strong and brave,
Joshua, *high priest, son of Jehozadak! And be strong and brave, all you people in this country,
and work! Work because I am with you’, says the *Lord *Almighty. v5 ‘A long time ago, my people
returned to their own country from Egypt. I promised them then that I would be with them. And I
was with them. I will be with you, too. So, do not be afraid. And do not think that the work will be
too difficult for you. My Spirit will stay here among you.
v6 Soon, people will see that I am a powerful God. Soon, I will cause the skies and the earth to
move. I will cause the sea and the land to move. v7 I will cause people in many countries to be
afraid. They will come to your country and they will bring with them valuable gifts. And I will make
my *temple beautiful’, says the *Lord *Almighty. v8 ‘All the *silver and gold in the world is mine’,
says the *Lord *Almighty. v9 ‘I promise that this new *temple will be more beautiful than the old
*temple. People will see my *temple. And then they will know that I am a great God. I will also
make this city a place where there is *peace’, says the *Lord *Almighty.
Egypt is a country in Africa where the *Jews were slaves. Now the *Jews were living in their
own country. They worked for many hours each day. They had to do this to get enough food.
They did not have much time to build the *temple. There were many things that they needed to
build the *temple. They did not have enough money to buy these things. But the *Lord had
always been with his people and he promised to help them. Then they would have the things
that they needed to build his *temple.
v10 Darius had been king for 1 year and 8 months and 23 days. Then the *Lord *Almighty spoke to
Haggai the *prophet again. v11 The *Lord *Almighty told Haggai that he must ask the *priests a
question about God’s rules. v12 This was the question. ‘A person might be carrying some meat in
his clothes. It is meat that he wants to give to God as a *sacrifice. His clothes might touch some
food. It might be bread. Or it might be food that he has cooked. It might be *wine or oil. Or it might
be some other food. Would the food that his clothes had touched become *holy?’ The *priests
replied, ‘No.’
v13 Haggai asked the *priests another question. ‘If you touch a dead person, you become not
*holy. You know that. If you then touch any of these foods, would they become not *holy?’ The
*priests replied, ‘Yes, they would.’
v14 So Haggai answered, ‘That is how I thought about all the people in this country’, says the
*Lord. ‘I was angry about all the things that you had done. I did not accept your *sacrifices. v15
You have now started to build the *Lord’s *temple again. Try to remember what life was like before
that. v16 You wanted 20 pots of *grain. But you found that there were only 10 pots. You wanted 50
jars of *wine. But you found that there were only 20 jars. v17 I sent bad weather and I destroyed all
your work. And the things that you picked from your fields were not good to eat. So you had to
waste them. But you still did not return to me. And you did not say that I was your *Lord. v18
Today, the 24th day of the 9th month, you have started to build my *temple. Now this is what will
happen to you: v19 You have not yet picked any seeds or *grapes. You have not yet picked any
*figs or *pomegranates. You have not yet picked any *olives. But after today, I will be good to you.
So then you will have as much as you need of all these things.’
Haggai explained why their lives had been so difficult. They had not done what was right. They
had not done the things that the *Lord had asked them to do. They had done what they
themselves had decided. That is why their lives had been so difficult. But now they want to obey
God. And they have started to build his *temple. And so God promises that they will have
enough food. He promises that they will have happy lives.
v20 On the same day, the 24th day of the month, the *Lord spoke to Haggai again. This is what he
said. v21 ‘Speak to Zerubbabel, who is the ruler of Judah. Tell him that I will cause the skies and
the earth to move. v22 Tell him that I will remove foreign kings. And I will destroy their countries. I
will destroy their *chariots. And I will kill the soldiers who ride in them. The soldiers who ride on
horses will start to kill each other. And they will kill each other’s horses. v23 But I am the *Lord
*Almighty and you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel are my servant. I have chosen you. And so, on
that day, I will cause you to be like my special ring. I will keep you safe. And you will rule this
country for me’, says the *Lord *Almighty.
Haggai gave this special message from the *Lord to Zerubbabel. The *Lord still ruled over
everything. But he had chosen Zerubbabel to be his servant. The *Lord wanted Zerubbabel to
rule Judah on his behalf.
Word List
almighty ~ more powerful than anyone else; someone who has the power to beat all his enemies;
the ruler of everything; all powerful.
chariot ~ a kind of car that soldiers use to fight. Horses pull it.
fig ~ a kind of sweet fruit that grows on a tree.
forgive ~ when someone stops being angry with another person who has done bad things.
grain ~ a hard seed that you can eat; or you can make it into bread.
grape ~ a fruit. People can use them to make a drink that has alcohol in it.
high priest ~ the most important *priest in the *temple.
holy ~ when something is right to use because God is happy about it; all good with nothing bad in
it.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
Lord ~ a special name for God that his people use. He will do what he has promised them. And he
does not change. That is what this name means.
olive ~ a tree with small fruits (or the fruits themselves) that people used to make oil. They burned
the oil to give them light. They used it in other ways too.
peace ~ when we and God are friends; or, when there is no war.
pomegranate ~ a bright red fruit like an apple.
priest ~ a man who gave gifts and burned animals as a *sacrifice to God on behalf of the *Jews; a
man that God chose to be his servant in the *temple.
prophet ~ someone who tells other people what God wants; or someone who tells other people
what God will do.
sacrifice ~ something that people gave to God. It could be food or drink or an animal. Some
sacrifices were to give thanks to God. People also made sacrifices so that God would *forgive
them.
silver ~ a white metal; it shines and it is very valuable.
temple ~ *Jews went to this special building in Jerusalem to meet and to talk to God.
thirsty ~ a thirsty person wants or needs a drink.
vine ~ a plant that climbs; the fruits are called *grapes.
wine ~ a drink that has alcohol in it; people make it from small, sweet fruit called grapes.
worship ~ to show God that he is great and that we love him very much; to give thanks to God.
Book List
Joyce B. Baldwin ~ Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries ~ IVP
Pieter A. Verhoff ~ The Books of Haggai and Malachi ~ The New International Commentary on the
Old Testament ~ Eerdmans
The New Bible Commentary Revised ~ IVF
Bible ~ Contemporary English Version, Good News Bible, New International Version, New Living
Translation, The Moffat Translation
© 1997-2009, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words).
September 2009
Visit our website: www.easyenglish.bible