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
New American Standard Bible
The Builders Encouraged
2 On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came by (A)Haggai the prophet, saying, 2 “Speak now to (B)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, (C)governor of Judah, and to (D)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the (E)remnant of the people, saying, 3 ‘Who is (F)left among you who saw this [a]temple in its (G)former glory? And how do you see it now? [b]Does it not seem to you like nothing [c]in comparison? 4 But now [d](H)take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for (I)I am with you,’ declares the Lord of armies. 5 ‘As for the [e](J)promise which I [f]made you when you came out of Egypt, [g]My (K)Spirit remains in your midst; (L)do not fear!’ 6 For this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘(M)Once more [h]in a (N)little while, I am going to (O)shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 7 I will shake (P)all the nations; and [i]they will come with the (Q)wealth of all nations, and I will (R)fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of armies. 8 ‘The (S)silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of armies. 9 ‘The latter (T)glory of this house will be greater than the (U)former,’ says the Lord of armies, ‘and in this place I will give (V)peace,’ declares the Lord of armies.”
10 On the (W)twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying, 11 “The Lord of armies says this: ‘(X)Now ask the priests for a [j]ruling: 12 If someone carries (Y)holy meat in the [k]fold of his garment, and touches bread with [l]this fold, or touches cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’” And the priests answered, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “(Z)If one who is unclean from a [m]corpse touches any of these things, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai responded and said, “‘(AA)So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. 15 But now, do [n](AB)consider from this day [o]onward: before one (AC)stone was placed on another in the temple of the Lord, 16 [p]from that time when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty [q]measures, there would be only twenty. 17 I struck you and every work of your hands with (AD)scorching wind, mildew, and hail; [r]yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord. 18 ‘Do [s](AE)consider from this day [t]onward, from the (AF)twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the Lord was (AG)founded, [u]consider: 19 Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree, it has not produced fruit. Yet from this day on I will (AH)bless you.’”
20 Then the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the (AI)twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 21 “Speak to (AJ)Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to (AK)shake the heavens and the earth. 22 And I will (AL)overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the (AM)power of the kingdoms of the [v]nations; and I will (AN)overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the (AO)horses and their riders will go down, (AP)every one by the sword of another.’ 23 ‘On that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a [w](AQ)signet ring, for (AR)I have chosen you,’” declares the Lord of armies.
Footnotes
- Haggai 2:3 Lit house
- Haggai 2:3 Lit Is it not in your eyes like
- Haggai 2:3 Lit like it
- Haggai 2:4 Lit be strong
- Haggai 2:5 Lit word
- Haggai 2:5 Lit cut with
- Haggai 2:5 Or while My Spirit was standing
- Haggai 2:6 Lit it is a little
- Haggai 2:7 Another reading is the wealth of all nations will come
- Haggai 2:11 Lit law; or saying
- Haggai 2:12 Lit wing
- Haggai 2:12 Lit his wing
- Haggai 2:13 Lit soul
- Haggai 2:15 Lit set your heart
- Haggai 2:15 Or backward
- Haggai 2:16 Lit since they were
- Haggai 2:16 Lit troughs
- Haggai 2:17 As in LXX; MT but you were not to Me
- Haggai 2:18 Lit set your heart
- Haggai 2:18 Or backward
- Haggai 2:18 Lit set your heart
- Haggai 2:22 Or Gentiles
- Haggai 2:23 Or seal
Haggai 2
New Living Translation
The New Temple’s Diminished Splendor
2 Then on October 17 of that same year,[a] the Lord sent another message through the prophet Haggai. 2 “Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua[b] son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God’s people there in the land: 3 ‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! 4 But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.’
6 “For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
Blessings Promised for Obedience
10 On December 18[c] of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord sent this message to the prophet Haggai: 11 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says. Ask the priests this question about the law: 12 ‘If one of you is carrying some meat from a holy sacrifice in his robes and his robe happens to brush against some bread or stew, wine or olive oil, or any other kind of food, will it also become holy?’”
The priests replied, “No.”
13 Then Haggai asked, “If someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then touches any of these foods, will the food be defiled?”
And the priests answered, “Yes.”
14 Then Haggai responded, “That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the Lord. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled by their sin. 15 Look at what was happening to you before you began to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple. 16 When you hoped for a twenty-bushel crop, you harvested only ten. When you expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, you found only twenty. 17 I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy everything you worked so hard to produce. Even so, you refused to return to me, says the Lord.
18 “Think about this eighteenth day of December, the day[d] when the foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid. Think carefully. 19 I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn.[e] You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you.”
Promises for Zerubbabel
20 On that same day, December 18,[f] the Lord sent this second message to Haggai: 21 “Tell Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overthrow royal thrones and destroy the power of foreign kingdoms. I will overturn their chariots and riders. The horses will fall, and their riders will kill each other.
23 “But when this happens, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, I will honor you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant. I will make you like a signet ring on my finger, says the Lord, for I have chosen you. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
Footnotes
- 2:1 Hebrew on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event (in the second year of Darius’s reign) occurred on October 17, 520 B.c.; also see note on 1:1a.
- 2:2 Hebrew Joshua, a variant spelling of Jeshua; also in 2:4.
- 2:10 Hebrew On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar (similarly in 2:18). This event occurred on December 18, 520 B.c.; also see note on 1:1a.
- 2:18 Or On this eighteenth day of December, think about the day.
- 2:19 Hebrew Is the seed yet in the barn?
- 2:20 Hebrew On the twenty-fourth day of the [ninth] month; see note on 2:10.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
