Haggai 1:2

2This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ ”

2“This is what the Lord of armies 1:2 Lit says, sayingsays: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” ’ ”

2“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” ’ ”

2“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘These people say, “The time has not come that the Lord’s house (temple) should be 1:2 The people of Judah had completed seventy years of captivity in Babylon (Jer 25:11, 12; Dan 9:2). In October 539 b.c., the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon, whereupon Cyrus the Great (founder of the Persian Empire, his reign extended from 559-529 b.c.) issued a decree permitting the Jews to return home and mandating the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 1:1-4). Some 50,000 returned (Ezra 2:64, 65) and shortly thereafter laid the foundation of the temple (Ezra 3:8-10), but when neighboring Samaritans antagonized the Jews, work on the temple stopped and the temple work lay dormant for some sixteen years. It was during the reign of Darius the Great that Haggai and Zechariah rebuked the people and admonished them to complete the temple. The people responded and the temple was completed in 516 b.c.rebuilt.” ’ ” [Ezra 1:1-6; 4:1-6, 24; 5:1-3]

2that this is what the Lord of Hosts says:

2Here is what the Lord who rules over all says. “The people of Judah say, ‘It’s not yet time to rebuild the Lord’s temple.’ ”