Haggai 2
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
The Future Glory of the Temple
2 In the second year of Dari′us the king, 1 in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 2 “Speak now to Zerub′babel the son of She-al′ti-el, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jeho′zadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 ‘Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? 4 Yet now take courage, O Zerub′babel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jeho′zadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit abides among you; fear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, 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 I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. 9 The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.’”
A Rebuke and a Promise
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Dari′us, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests to decide this question, 12 ‘If one carries holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and touches with his skirt bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered, “No.” 13 Then said Haggai, “If one who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, says the Lord; and so with every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. 15 Pray now, consider what will come to pass from this day onward. Before a stone was placed upon a stone in the temple of the Lord, 16 how did you fare?[a] When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 I smote you and all the products of your toil with blight and mildew and hail; yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. 18 Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider: 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still yield nothing? From this day on I will bless you.”
God’s Promise to Zerubbabel
20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to Zerub′babel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders; and the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his fellow. 23 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerub′babel my servant, the son of She-al′ti-el, says the Lord, and make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts.”
Footnotes
- Haggai 2:16 Gk: Heb since they were
Haggai 2
New King James Version
The Coming Glory of God’s House
2 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the Lord came [a]by Haggai the prophet, saying: 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: 3 (A)‘Who is left among you who saw this [b]temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, (B)is this not in your eyes as nothing? 4 Yet now (C)be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts. 5 (D)‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so (E)My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’
6 “For thus says the Lord of hosts: (F)‘Once more (it is a little while) (G)I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to (H)the [c]Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this [d]temple with (I)glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. 8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. 9 (J)‘The glory of this latter [e]temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give (K)peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
The People Are Defiled
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Now, (L)ask the priests concerning the law, saying, 12 “If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?” ’ ”
Then the priests answered and said, “No.”
13 And Haggai said, “If one who is (M)unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?”
So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.”
14 Then Haggai answered and said, (N)“ ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.
Promised Blessing
15 ‘And now, carefully (O)consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the Lord— 16 since those days, (P)when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty. 17 (Q)I struck you with blight and mildew and hail (R)in all the labors of your hands; (S)yet you did not turn to Me,’ says the Lord. 18 ‘Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from (T)the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid—consider it: 19 (U)Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will (V)bless you.’ ”
Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet
20 And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, (W)governor of Judah, saying:
(X)‘I will shake heaven and earth.
22 (Y)I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms;
I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms.
(Z)I will overthrow the chariots
And those who ride in them;
The horses and their riders shall come down,
Every one by the sword of his brother.
23 ‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, (AA)‘and will make you like a signet ring; for (AB)I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
Footnotes
- Haggai 2:1 Lit. by the hand of
- Haggai 2:3 Lit. house
- Haggai 2:7 Or desire of all nations
- Haggai 2:7 Lit. house
- Haggai 2:9 Lit. house
Haggai 2
EasyEnglish Bible
The temple will be beautiful
2 On the 21st day of the seventh month, the Lord spoke again to Haggai, his prophet. 2 The Lord told Haggai that he must speak to Zerubbabel and to Joshua. Shealtiel's son, Zerubbabel, was the ruler of Judah. Jehozadak's son, Joshua was the leader of the priests. The Lord also told Haggai to speak his message to all the people who had returned to live in Jerusalem. The Lord told Haggai to say this to them all:
3 The Lord says, ‘Some of you will remember how beautiful my temple was in past times. Look at it now! It seems nothing like it was before. 4 But now, Zerubbabel, be strong and brave! Joshua too, and all you people who belong here in Judah, be strong and brave! Now begin to work, because I am with you to help you. That is what I, the Almighty Lord, say to you. 5 Do not be afraid. Remember that I made a promise to your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. I promised them that I would be with them. My Spirit is now with you too.
6 I, the Almighty Lord also tell you this: Soon, I will cause the sky and the whole earth to shake. I will also cause the sea and the land to shake. 7 I will cause people in all the nations of the world to shake with fear. They will come here to offer their valuable gifts. At that time, I will cause my temple to be full of glory. I, the Almighty Lord, tell you this. 8 Yes, all the silver and gold in the world belongs to me. And I promise you this: 9 This new temple will be even more beautiful than the old temple in past times. Here in this place I will bless my people.’ That is what the Almighty Lord says.
The Lord will be good to his people
10 The Lord spoke again to Haggai, his prophet, on the 24th day of the ninth month, in the second year since Darius had become king. This was the Lord's message:
11 The Almighty Lord says, ‘Ask the priests a question about my Law. 12 A person might be carrying some special, holy meat in his clothes. His clothes might then touch some food. It might be bread, or soup, or wine, or oil. If the clothes that hold the holy meat touch any other food, does that other food also become holy?’ The priests replied, ‘No.’
13 Haggai asked the priests another question: ‘If anyone touches a dead body, you know that you become unclean. If an unclean person touches any of these foods, would they also become unclean?’ The priests replied, ‘Yes, those things would be unclean.’
14 So Haggai told them, ‘This is what the Lord says: This nation and its people are just like that. They are unclean. So everything that they do is also unclean. All the gifts that they offer to me are unclean. I could not accept them. 15 Think carefully what life was like before you started again to build the Lord's temple. Do not forget that. 16 In those days, you hoped to get 20 bags of grain from your fields. But you only got ten bags. You hoped to get 50 jars of wine from your grapes. But you only got 20 jars. 17 I sent bad weather and other problems to destroy all your crops. All your hard work came to nothing. But you still did not return to worship me, your Lord. 18 Remember today, the 24th day of the ninth month. You have started again to build my temple. Now you have built its foundation, think about what will happen from today. 19 You have already eaten the crops that you stored. The grapes, figs, pomegranates and olives are not yet ready for you to pick. But after today, I will bless you. You will have many good things.’[a]
20 On the same day, the Lord spoke to Haggai again. He said:
21 ‘Speak to Zerubbabel, the ruler of Judah. Tell him that I will cause the sky and the whole earth to shake. 22 Tell him that I will destroy the power of foreign kings. I will destroy their armies. Their horses and chariots will fall down. Their soldiers will fight against each other. They will kill each other with their swords.
23 But I, the Almighty Lord say this to you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel.[b] You are my servant and I have chosen you. On that special day, I will give to you the authority to rule on my behalf. That is the message of the Almighty Lord.’
Footnotes
- 2:19 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.
- 2:23 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.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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