The Coming Glory of the Temple

2 ^(A)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: ² “Speak now to ^(B)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^(C)Joshua 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 ^(E)in its former glory? How do you see it now? ^(F)Is it not as nothing in your eyes? ⁴ Yet now ^(G)be strong, O ^(H)Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. ^(I)Be strong, O ^(J)Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ^(K)Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. ^(L)Work, for ^(M)I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, ^5 (N)according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. ^(O)My Spirit remains in your midst. ^(P)Fear not. ⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(Q)Yet once more, in a little while, ^(R)I 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 ^(S)I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. ^8 (T)The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. ^9 (U)The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And ^(V)in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

Blessings for a Defiled People

^10 (W)On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ^(X)in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, ¹¹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(Y)Ask the priests about the law: ¹² ‘If someone carries ^(Z)holy 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 ^(AC)touches 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, ^(AE)consider from this day onward.^[a] Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, ¹⁶ how did you fare? ^(AF)When^[b] 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 (AG)I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, ^(AH)yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. ^18 (AI)Consider from this day onward, ^(AJ)from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since ^(AK)the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, ^(AL)consider: ^19 (AM)Is 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 ^(AN)I will bless you.”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

²⁰ The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai ^(AO)on the twenty-fourth day of the month, ²¹ “Speak to ^(AP)Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ^(AQ)I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, ²² and ^(AR)to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and ^(AS)overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, ^(AT)every one by the sword of his brother. ²³ On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O ^(AU)Zerubbabel ^(AV)my servant, the son of ^(AW)Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you ^(AX)like a^[c] signet ring, ^(AY)for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

Warning Against Worldliness

4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions^[a] are ^(A)at war within you?^{[b] 2} You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^(B)wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ^4 (C)You adulterous people!^[c] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^(D)Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit ^(E)that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But ^(F)he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^(G)“God opposes the proud but ^(H)gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^(I)Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ^8 (J)Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^(K)Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and ^(L)purify your hearts, ^(M)you double-minded. ^9 (N)Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ^10 (O)Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

^11 (P)Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.^[d] The one who speaks against a brother or ^(Q)judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is only ^(R)one lawgiver and ^(S)judge, he who is able to save and ^(T)to destroy. But ^(U)who are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, ^(V)“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^(W)you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(X)“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^(Y)All such boasting is evil. ^17 (Z)So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Warning to the Rich

5 Come now, ^(AA)you rich, weep and howl for the ^(AB)miseries that are coming upon you. ^2 (AC)Your riches have rotted and ^(AD)your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(AE)You have laid up treasure ^(AF)in the last days. ⁴ Behold, ^(AG)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^(AH)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^(AI)the Lord of hosts. ^5 (AJ)You have lived on the earth in luxury and ^(AK)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^(AL)a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and ^(AM)murdered ^(AN)the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers,^[e] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ^(AO)the early and the late rains. ⁸ You also, be patient. ^(AP)Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^(AQ)is at hand. ⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ^(AR)so that you may not be judged; behold, ^(AS)the Judge is standing ^(AT)at the door. ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take ^(AU)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ^(AV)the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ^(AW)the purpose of the Lord, how ^(AX)the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹² But above all, my brothers, ^(AY)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him ^(AZ)sing praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ^(BA)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And ^(BB)if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore, ^(BC)confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, ^(BD)that you may be healed. ^(BE)The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.^{[f] 17} Elijah was a man ^(BF)with a nature like ours, and ^(BG)he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for ^(BH)three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ^18 (BI)Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

¹⁹ My brothers, ^(BJ)if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone ^(BK)brings him back, ²⁰ let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering ^(BL)will save his soul from death and ^(BM)will cover a multitude of sins.