Haggai 2
English Standard Version
The Coming Glory of the Temple
2 (A)In 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 (B)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to (C)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 (D)‘Who is left among you who saw this house (E)in its former glory? How do you see it now? (F)Is it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now (G)be strong, O (H)Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. (I)Be strong, O (J)Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. (K)Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. (L)Work, for (M)I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 (N)according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. (O)My Spirit remains in your midst. (P)Fear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: (Q)Yet once more, in a little while, (R)I 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 (S)I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 (T)The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 (U)The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And (V)in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”
Blessings for a Defiled People
10 (W)On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, (X)in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: (Y)Ask the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries (Z)holy 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, (AA)“No.” 13 Then Haggai said, (AB)“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body (AC)touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, (AD)“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, (AE)consider from this day onward.[a] Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, 16 how did you fare? (AF)When[b] 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 (AG)I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, (AH)yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. 18 (AI)Consider from this day onward, (AJ)from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since (AK)the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, (AL)consider: 19 (AM)Is 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 (AN)I will bless you.”
Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet
20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai (AO)on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to (AP)Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, (AQ)I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and (AR)to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and (AS)overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, (AT)every one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O (AU)Zerubbabel (AV)my servant, the son of (AW)Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you (AX)like a[c] signet ring, (AY)for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”
Footnotes
- Haggai 2:15 Or backward; also verse 18
- Haggai 2:16 Probable reading (compare Septuagint); Hebrew Lord, since they were. When
- Haggai 2:23 Hebrew the
Haggai 2
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord Encourages the People
2 On the 21st day of the seventh month, this message from the Lord came to Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the people. Say this: 3 ‘How many of you people look at this Temple and try to compare it to the beautiful Temple that was destroyed? What do you think? Does this Temple seem like nothing when you compare it with the first Temple? 4 But the Lord says, “Zerubbabel, don’t be discouraged!” And the Lord says, “Joshua son of Jehozadak, you are the high priest. Don’t be discouraged! And all you people who live in the land, don’t be discouraged! Continue this work, because I am with you.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
5 “‘I made an agreement with you when you left Egypt, and I have kept my promise. My Spirit is with you, so don’t be afraid!’ 6 This is what the Lord All-Powerful said, ‘In just a little while, I will once again shake things up. I will shake heaven and earth, and I will shake the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake up the nations, and they will come to you with wealth from every nation. And then I will fill this Temple with glory.’ That is what the Lord All-Powerful said! 8 ‘All their silver really belongs to me! And all the gold is mine!’ This is what the Lord All-Powerful said. 9 And the Lord All-Powerful said, ‘This last Temple will be more beautiful than the first one, and I will bring peace to this place.’ Remember, this is what the Lord All-Powerful said.”
Today Begins a Time of Blessing
10 On the 24th day of the ninth month in the second year Darius was king of Persia, this message from the Lord came to Haggai the prophet: 11 “The Lord All-Powerful commands you to ask the priests what the law says about these things: 12 ‘Suppose a man carries some meat in the fold of his clothes. This meat is part of a sacrifice, so it is holy. If his clothes touch some bread, cooked food, wine, oil, or some other food, will the thing the clothes touch become holy?’”
The priests answered, “No.”
13 Then Haggai said, “Whoever touches a dead body will become unclean. Now if they touch anything else, will it also become unclean?”
The priests answered, “Yes, it will become unclean.”
14 Then Haggai said, “This is what the Lord God said: ‘This is also true for the people of this nation. They were not pure and holy before me. So anything they did with their hands and anything they offered at the altar became unclean.
15 “‘Think about what has happened to you. Think about how things were before you began working on the Lord’s Temple. 16 People wanted 20 measures of grain, but there were only 10 measures in the pile. People wanted to get 50 jars of wine from the wine vat, but there were only 20. 17 That was because I punished you. I sent the diseases that killed your plants and the hail that destroyed the things you made with your hands. I did this, but still you did not come to me.’ This is what the Lord said.
18 “The Lord said, ‘Today is the 24th day of the ninth month. You have finished laying the foundation of the Lord’s Temple. So notice what happens from this day forward: 19 Your seed for planting is still in the barn. And look at the vines, the fig trees, and the pomegranate and olive trees. They have not yet produced any fruit. But beginning today, I will bless you.’”
20 Another message from the Lord came to Haggai on the 24th day of the month. This is the message: 21 “Go to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah and tell him that I will shake heaven and earth. 22 And I will overthrow many kings and kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of those other people. I will destroy their chariots and their riders. I will defeat their war horses and riders. These armies are friends now, but they will turn against each other and kill each other with swords.” 23 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant, I have chosen you. I, the Lord, tell you that at that time I will use you like a signet ring to represent my authority!”
This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International