Encouragement and Promise

2 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month,^(A) the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: ² “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and to the remnant of the people: ³ ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem to you like nothing by comparison?^{(B) 4} Even so, be strong, Zerubbabel—this is the Lord’s declaration.^(C) Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land—this is the Lord’s declaration. Work! For I am with you^(D)—the declaration of the Lord of Armies. ⁵ This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt,^(E) and my Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid.’”

⁶ For the Lord of Armies says this: “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth,^(F) the sea and the dry land.^{(G) 7} I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,”^(H) says the Lord of Armies. ⁸ “The silver and gold belong to me”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. ⁹ “The final glory of this house^[a] will be greater than the first,”^(I) says the Lord of Armies. “I will provide peace in this place”^(J)—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.

⁸ Now he who plants and he who waters are one,^[a] and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s coworkers.^[b] You are God’s field, God’s building.^(A)

¹⁰ According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder,^[c] and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation^(B) other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver,^(C) costly stones,^(D) wood, hay, or straw, ¹³ each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire;^(E) the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.^{(F) 14} If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience^[d] loss, but he himself will be saved^(G)—but only as through fire.^(H)

¹⁶ Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple^(I) and that the Spirit of God lives in you?^{(J) 17} If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him;^(K) for God’s temple is holy,^(L) and that is what you are.

The Light of the Gospel

4 Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy,^(A) we do not give up.^{(B) 2} Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting^(C) deceitfully or distorting the word of God,^(D) but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.^{(E) 3} But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ In their case, the god of this age^(F) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,^[a](G) who is the image of God.^{(H) 5} For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,^(I) and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. ⁶ For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^(J) has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge^(K) of God’s glory^(L) in the face of Jesus Christ.

¹⁶ Therefore we do not give up.^(A) Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person^(B) is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our momentary light affliction^(C) is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.^{(D) 18} So we do not focus on what is seen,^(E) but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

¹⁹ So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,^(A) with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building, being put together,^(B) grows into a holy temple in the Lord.^{(C) 22} In him you are also being built together^(D) for God’s dwelling^(E) in the Spirit.