Haggai Chapter 2

¹ The Twenty-First Day, Seventh Month

A Message from Yahveh to Haggai

The New Temple’s Lesser Beauty

² “Ask Zerubbabel, Joshua/Jeshua the high priest, and the remnant, ³ ‘How many of you saw this Temple in its former beauty? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem like nothing in comparison? ⁴ But resolve to work because I’m with you. ⁵ Like I promised when you came out of Egypt, my Spirit’s among you so you needn’t be afraid!’

 ⁶ Soon I’m going to shake the earth and sky one more time, ocean and dry land ⁷ as well as the nations. Pilgrims will bring wealth from every country to fill this Temple with beauty. ⁸ Silver and gold belong to me. ⁹ This Temple’s beauty will be greater than the former, and there’ll be peace here.’”

Hag 2:1-0

¹⁰ The Twenty-Fourth Day, Ninth Month, Second Year of Darius

A Message from Yahveh to Haggai

Blessings for a Defiled People

¹¹ “Ask the priests for a ruling: ¹² if someone carries consecrated meat folded up in his cloak and that fold touches bread, cooked food, wine, olive oil, and the like, does the other food become consecrated?’”

 “No.”

¹³ “If somebody that’s ceremonially unclean from a corpse, touches any of these, will they become unclean?” 

 “Yes.”

¹⁴ Then Haggai said,

“That’s the way it is with this nation. Everything you do and everything you offer is unclean. ¹⁵ Think about what was happening before you began to place one stone on another in Yahveh’s Temple: ¹⁶ if you went to a grain pile to get 20 measures, there’d only be 10 left. If you went to a wine vat to draw 50 measures, there’d only be 20 left. ¹⁷ You and everything you did, I struck with blasting wind, mildew, and hail; but you didn’t come back to me. ^18-19 But notice this: The seed is still in the granary; the grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not started to bear—but from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month on, when you’ve begun laying the foundation for the Temple—I’ll be blessing you.”       

Hag 2:10-19

²⁰ The Same Day: Twenty-Fourth Day of the Month

A Second Message from Yahveh to Haggai

Zerubbabel as the LORD’s Signet Ring

²¹ “Tell Zerubbabel, ‘I’m going to shake earth and sky, ²² overthrow the thrones of kingdoms, destroy powerful nations, defeat chariots and riders; every horse and rider will fall by the sword. ²³ Then I’ll make you my signet ring because I’ve chosen you, Zerubbabel Ben-Shealtiel.’

                                                                        I, Yahveh of hosts, have spoken.”                        

Hag 2:20-23

Version by Virgil Warren: christir.org