13 On that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.^(A)

Idolatry Cut Off

² On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more, and also I will remove from the land the prophets and the unclean spirit.^{(B) 3} And if any prophets appear again, their fathers and mothers who bore them will say to them, “You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the Lord,” and their fathers and their mothers who bore them shall pierce them through when they prophesy.^{(C) 4} On that day the prophets will be ashamed, every one, of their visions when they prophesy; they will not put on a hairy mantle in order to deceive,^{(D) 5} but each of them will say, “I am no prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for the land has been my possession^[a] since my youth.” ⁶ And if anyone asks them, “What are these wounds on your chest?”^[b] the answer will be “The wounds I received in the house of my friends.”

The Shepherd Struck, the Flock Scattered

False Asceticism

4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later^[a] times some will renounce^[b] the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,^{(A) 2} through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. ³ They forbid marriage and abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.^{(B) 4} For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving,^{(C) 5} for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.

A Good Minister of Jesus Christ

⁶ If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant^[c] of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed.^{(D) 7} Have nothing to do with profane and foolish tales. Train yourself in godliness,^{(E) 8} for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.^{(F) 9} The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. ¹⁰ For to this end we toil and suffer reproach,^[d] because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.^(G)

¹¹ Command and teach these things.^{(H) 12} Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.^{(I) 13} Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture,^[e] to exhorting, to teaching. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.^{(J) 15} Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. ¹⁶ Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.^(K)

A Rebuke and a Promise

¹⁰ On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai, saying: ¹¹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests for a ruling:^{(A) 12} If one carries consecrated meat in the fold of one’s garment and with the fold touches bread, or stew, or wine, or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy?” The priests answered, “No.”^{(B) 13} Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered, “Yes, it becomes unclean.”^{(C) 14} Haggai then said, “So is it with this people and with this nation before me, says the Lord, and so with every work of their hands; what they offer there is unclean.^{(D) 15} But now, consider what will come to pass from this day on. Before a stone was placed upon a stone in the Lord’s temple,^{(E) 16} how did you fare?^[a] When 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.^{(F) 17} I struck you and every work of your hands with blight and mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me, says the Lord.^{(G) 18} Consider from this day on, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider:^{(H) 19} Is there any seed left 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 Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: I am about to shake the heavens and the earth^{(I) 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 fall, every one by the sword of a comrade.^{(J) 23} On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts.”^(K)

The Earthly and the Heavenly Sanctuaries

9 Now^[a] the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. ² For a tent^[b] was constructed, the first one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the Presence;^[c] this is called the holy place.^{(A) 3} Behind the second curtain was a tent^[d] called the holy of holies.^{(B) 4} In it stood the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which there were a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;^{(C) 5} above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.^[e] Of these things we cannot speak now in detail.^(D)

⁶ These preparations having thus been made, the priests go continually into the first tent^[f] to carry out their ritual duties, ⁷ but only the high priest goes into the second, and he but once a year and not without taking the blood that he offers for himself and for the sins committed unintentionally by the people.^{(E) 8} By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed as long as the first tent^[g] is still standing.^{(F) 9} This is a symbol^[h] of the present time, indicating that gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper^{(G) 10} but deal only with food and drink and various baptisms, regulations for the body imposed until the time comes to set things right.^(H)

¹¹ But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come,^[i] then through the greater and more perfect tent^[j] (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation),^{(I) 12} he entered once for all into the holy place, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.^{(J) 13} For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified,^{(K) 14} how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit^[k] offered himself without blemish to God, purify our^[l] conscience from dead works to worship the living God!^(L)