Haggai 2
The Coming Glory of the Temple
aIn the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to aZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to aJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 a‘Who is left among you who saw this house bin its former glory? How do you see it now? cIs it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now abe strong, O bZerubbabel, declares the Lord. aBe strong, O bJoshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. aBe strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. cWork, for dI am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 aaccording to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. bMy Spirit remains in your midst. cFear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: aYet once more, in a little while, bI will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and aI will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 aThe silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 aThe latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And bin this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”
Blessings for a Defiled People
10 aOn the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, bin the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: aAsk the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries aholy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, b“No.” 13 Then Haggai said, a“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body btouches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, a“So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. 15 Now then, aconsider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, 16 how did you fare? aWhen one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 aI struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, byet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. 18 aConsider from this day onward, bfrom the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since cthe day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, aconsider: 19 aIs the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on bI will bless you.”
Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet
20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai aon the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to aZerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, bI am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and ato overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and boverthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, cevery one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O aZerubbabel bmy servant, the son of cShealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you dlike a signet ring, bfor I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.