1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,

2Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,

3Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?

4Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:

5According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.

6For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

7And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.

9The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

10In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,

11Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,

12If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.

13Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.

14Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.

15And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:

16Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.

17I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.

18Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD'S temple was laid, consider it.

19Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.

20And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,

21Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;

22And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.

23In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.

1 In the seuenth moneth, in the one and twentith day of the moneth, came the word of the Lord by the Prophet Haggai, saying;

2Speake now to Zerubbabel the sonne of Shealtiel, gouernour of Iudah, and to Iosuah the sonne of Iosedech the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,

3Who is left among you that sawe this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it, as nothing?

4Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord, and bee strong, O Ioshua, sonne of Iosedech the high Priest, and be strong all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and worke: (for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts,)

5According to the word that I couenanted with you, when ye came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you, Feare ye not.

6For thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once, it is a litle while, and I will shake the heauens, and the earth, and the sea, and the drie land.

7And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.

8The siluer is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.

9The glory of this latter house shal be greater then of the former, saith the Lord of hostes: and in this place will I giue peace, saith the Lord of hostes.

10 In the foure and twentieth day of the ninth moneth, in the second yeere of Darius, came þe word of the Lord by Haggai the Prophet, saying,

11Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Aske now the priests concerning the law, saying,

12If one beare holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt doe touch bread or pottage, or wine, or oile, or any meate, shall it be holy? and the priests answered and said, No

13Then said Haggai, If one that is vncleane by a dead body, touch any of these, shal it be vncleane? and the priests answered and said, It shalbe vncleane.

14Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord, and so is euery worke of their hands, and that which they offer there, is vncleane.

15And now I pray you consider from this day and vpward, from before a stone was laid vpon a stone in the Temple of the Lord.

16Since those dayes were, when one came to an heape of twentie measures, there were but ten: when one came to the presse-fatte for to draw out fiftie vessels out of the presse, there were but twentie.

17I smote you with blasting, and with mildew, and with haile in all the labours of your hands: yet yee turned not to me, saith the Lord.

18Consider now from this day, and vpward from the foure and twentieth day of the ninth moneth, euen from the day that the foundatio of the Lords Temple was laid, consider it.

19Is the seed yet in the barne? yea, as yet the vine and the fig tree, & the pomegranate, and the Oliue tree hath not brought foorth: from this day will I blesse you.

20 And againe the worde of the Lord came vnto Haggai in the foure and twentieth day of the moneth, saying,

21Speake to Zerubbabel gouernor of Iudah, saying, I wil shake the heauens and the earth.

22And I will ouerthrow the throne of kingdomes, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdomes of the heathen, and I will ouerthrow the charets, and those that ride in them, and the horses and their riders shall come downe, euery one by the sword of his brother.

23In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my seruant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I haue chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.

III == Ezra 3:12 ; Zech 4:10

IV == Zech 8:9

V == Ex 29:45-46 ; Neh 9:20 ; Isa 63:1

VI == Joel 3:16 ; Hag 2:21 ; Heb 12:26

VII == Gen 49:10 ; Mal 3:1

IX Ps 85:8-9 ; Luke 2:14 ; John 1:14 ; Eph 2:14

XI == Lev 10:10-11 ; Deut 33:10 ; Mal 2:7

XIII == Num 19:11

XIV == Titus 1:15

XV == Hag 1:5

XVI == Hag 1:6 , 9 ; Zech 8:10

XVII == Deut 28:22 ; 1st Kings 8:37 ; Jer 5:3 ; Amos 4:6 ; 8:11 ; Hag 1:9 , 11

XVIII == Zech 8:9

XIX == Zech 8:12

XXI == Hag 1:14 ; 2:6-7 ; Heb 12:26

XXII == Dan 2:44 ; Mic 5:10 ; Zech 4:6 ; 9:10 ; Matt 24:7

XXIII Song 8:6 ; Isa 42:1 ; 43:10 ; Jer 22:24

1 on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:

2 Tell this to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak, and to the remnant of the people:

3 Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem like nothing in your eyes?

4 But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD, and take courage, Joshua, high priest, son of Jehozadak, And take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD, and work! For I am with you, says the LORD of hosts.

5 This is the pact that I made with you when you came out of Egypt, And my spirit continues in your midst; do not fear!

6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: One moment yet, a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.

7 I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come in, And I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.

8 Mine is the silver and mine the gold, says the LORD of hosts.

9 Greater will be the future glory of this house than the former, says the LORD of hosts; And in this place I will give you peace, says the LORD of hosts.

10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Haggai:

11 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests for a decision:

12 If a man carries sanctified flesh in the fold of his garment and the fold touches bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any other food, do they become sanctified? "No," the priests answered.

13 Then Haggai said: If a person unclean from contact with a corpse touches any of these, do they become unclean? The priests answered, "They become unclean."

14 Then Haggai continued: So is this people, and so is this nation in my sight, says the LORD: And so are all the works of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.

15 But now, consider from this day forward. Before there was a stone laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD,

16 how did you fare? When one went to a heap of grain for twenty measures, it would yield but ten; When another went to the vat to draw fifty measures, there would be but twenty.

17 I struck you in all the works of your hands with blight, searing wind, and hail, yet you did not return to me, says the LORD.

18 (Consider from this day forward: from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. From the day on which the temple of the LORD was founded, consider!)

19 Indeed, the seed has not sprouted, nor have the vine, the fig, the pomegranate and the olive tree yet borne. From this day, I will bless!

20 The message of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month:

21 Tell this to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah: I will shake the heavens and the earth;

22 I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms, destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the riders with their horses shall go down by one another's sword.

23 On that day, says the LORD of hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, my servant, says the LORD, And I will set you as a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the LORD of hosts.

v 1,2. Less than a month later, Oct. 17, 520 BC, Haggai gave this message to all on the last day of Feast of Tabernacles, The work has been slow, first, getting clean up work done, then delays because of the Feast of Trumpets, Tabernacles & Atonement.

v 3. At this early stage it was obvious by the size laid out and the type of materials assembled, especially to Haggai and other old people who had seen Solomon’s temple, that this one would be nothing in comparison. Ezra 3:12 tells that while many were rejoicing at getting it started, the older men wept at the comparison.

4,5. This was not to discourage them, but God encouraged the leaders to press on, and as the Lord was with them coming out of Egypt, He is with them now.

v 6-8. God encourages by looking forward to the shaking of the earth at the battle of Armageddon the return of Christ and the wonderful Millennial temple which can be built with God’s unlimited resources. (Of course this skips over the entire Church Age.)

v 9. The glory of this smaller restoration temple will be greater than Solomon’s, because Messiah would come to it, (Matt. 12:42 “behold, a greater than Solomon is here”) but the ultimate fulfillment will be in the Millennium with Messiah there. 

v 10. A couple of months later, Dec. 18, 520 BC, the Lord gave Haggai another message. In the meantime, Zechariah had begun his ministry in November, Zech. 1:1.

v 11-14. Haggai is told to ask for an official ruling from the priests, if a holy garment touches food, would that make the food holy? Obviously not, but if something touched a dead body, it became unclean. Then Haggai pointed out that disobedience also renders sacrifices defiled. Before the temple building began, the people were living in defilement, but obedience will bring a change as in the next verse.

v 15-17. Contrasted with disobedience, from this day onward, God will bless their obedience, v 15, 18 and 19. They are told five times to ponder over their ways, 1:5, 7; 2:15, and 18 twice. Then God reminds them that their grain was decreased 50%, their grape juice 60% and crops were blighted from drouth, and mildewed from moisture as predicted in Deut. 28:22, plus hail for their disobedience.

v 18,19. Some take this as another reminder that crops for this year have already failed, even from the time they laid the foundation. Up to this date the barns are not full and the orchards have failed, but from this day God blesses.
I prefer Matthew Henry’s view. Yes, the seed is yet in the barn because it has not been fall sown. Neither have fruit trees budded in the fall, so there is no indication from nature that things will be better. They are to note that from the date, 12-18-520 BC, the foundation was completed by their obedience, and the blessing would come from God.

v 20,21. On that same day, Haggai received another message from the Lord. This message was only to Zerubbabel, the governor, telling of earthquakes and judgments.

v 22. These things will be in the Tribulation and in the battle of Armageddon, and in the overthrow, there will be so much confusion men will turn on one another.

v 23. In that future day the Lord will make Zerubbabel as a signet ring, symbol of royal authority. This is a reverse of what was told his grandfather, Jeconiah, that even if he was God’s signet ring, he would turn him over to Nebuchadnezzar for punishment, Jer. 22:24. As a descendant in the line of David, Zerubbabel was typical of Messiah in the Millennial Age.