| 2:1 | On the twenty-first day of the seventh month,* the Lord spoke again through the prophet Haggai:* |
| 2:2 | “Ask the following questions to* Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak,* and the remnant of the people: |
| 2:3 | ‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple?* How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison? |
| 2:4 | Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord. ‘Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and* all you citizens of the land,’* says the Lord, ‘and begin to work. For I am with you,’ says the Lord who rules over all. |
| 2:5 | ‘Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my spirit* even now testifies to you.’* |
| 2:6 | Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says: ‘In just a little while* I will once again shake the sky* and the earth, the sea and the dry ground. |
| 2:7 | I will also shake up all the nations, and they* will offer their treasures;* then I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord who rules over all. |
| 2:8 | ‘The silver and gold will be mine,’ says the Lord who rules over all. |
| 2:9 | ‘The future splendor of this temple will be greater than that of former times,’* the Lord who rules over all declares, ‘and in this place I will give peace.’”* |
| 2:10 | On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year,* the Lord spoke again to the prophet Haggai:* |
| 2:11 | “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘Ask the priests about the law.* |
| 2:12 | If someone carries holy meat in a fold of his garment and that fold touches bread, a boiled dish, wine, olive oil, or any other food, will that item become holy?’”* The priests answered, “It will not.” |
| 2:13 | Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body* comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.” |
| 2:14 | Then Haggai responded, “‘The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,’* says the Lord. ‘And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean.* |
| 2:15 | Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past,* before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple.* |
| 2:16 | From that time* when one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it, there were only twenty. |
| 2:17 | I struck all the products of your labor* with blight, disease, and hail, and yet you brought nothing to me,’* says the Lord. |
| 2:18 | ‘Think carefully about the past:* from today, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,* to the day work on the temple of the Lord was resumed,* think about it.* |
| 2:19 | The seed is still in the storehouse, isn’t it? And the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree have not produced. Nevertheless, from today on I will bless you.’” |
| 2:20 | Then the Lord spoke again to Haggai* on the twenty-fourth day of the month:* |
| 2:21 | Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah: ‘I am ready* to shake the sky* and the earth. |
| 2:22 | I will overthrow royal thrones and shatter the might of earthly kingdoms.* I will overthrow chariots and those who ride them, and horses and their riders will fall as people kill one another.* |
| 2:23 | On that day,’* says the Lord who rules over all, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’* says the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring,* for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord who rules over all.”* |
Haggai 2 - NET Bible [draft]
