Hag 2 | ESV | STEP | In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month , the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet :

1 ^aIn the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to ^bZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^cJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 ^d‘Who is left among you who saw this house ^ein its former glory? How do you see it now? ^fIs it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now ^gbe strong, O ^hZerubbabel, declares the Lord. ⁱBe strong, O ^jJoshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ^kBe strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. ^lWork, for ^mI am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 ⁿaccording to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. ^oMy Spirit remains in your midst. ^pFear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^qYet once more, in a little while, ^rI 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 ^sI will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 ^tThe silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 ^uThe latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And ^vin this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

Blessings for a Defiled People

10 ^wOn the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ^xin the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^yAsk the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries ^zholy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, ^aa“No.” 13 Then Haggai said, ^ab“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body ^actouches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, ^ad“So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. 15 Now then, ^aeconsider from this day onward. ^{▼▼Or backward; also verse 18} Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, 16 how did you fare? ^agWhen ^{▼▼Probable reading (compare Septuagint); Hebrew Lord, since they were. 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. 17 ^aiI struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, ^ajyet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. 18 ^akConsider from this day onward, ^alfrom the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since ^amthe day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, ^anconsider: 19 ^aoIs the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on ^apI will bless you.”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai ^aqon the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to ^arZerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ^asI am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and ^atto overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and ^auoverthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, ^avevery one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O ^awZerubbabel ^axmy servant, the son of ^ayShealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you ^azlike a ^{▼▼Hebrew the} signet ring, ^bbfor I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”