Blessings for a Defiled People

Haggai 2

10 t On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, u in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 11 "Thus says the Lord of hosts: v Ask the priests about the law: 12 'If someone carries w 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, x "No." 13 Then Haggai said, y "If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body z touches any of these, does it become unclean?" The priests answered and said, "It does become unclean." 14 Then Haggai answered and said, a "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, b consider from this day onward. 1 Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, 16 how did you fare? c When 2 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 d I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, e yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. 18 b Consider from this day onward, f from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since g the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, b consider: 19 h 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 i I will bless you."

  1. Cross References
    Haggai 2:18
    Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord 's temple was laid, consider:
    Haggai 2:20
    The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month.
  2. Cross References
    Haggai 1:1
    In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
  3. Cross References
    Leviticus 10:10 - 11
    You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean.
  4. Cross References
    Jeremiah 11:15
    What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult?
  5. Cross References
    Haggai 2:14
    Then Haggai answered and said, "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.
  6. Cross References
    Leviticus 22:4
    None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a discharge may eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or a man who has had an emission of semen.
    Leviticus 22:6
    The person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water.
  7. Cross References
    Numbers 19:22
    And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 64:6
    We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
  9. Cross References
    Haggai 1:5
    Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.
  10. Cross References
    Haggai 1:6
    You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
  11. Cross References
    Amos 4:9
    I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me," declares the Lord.
    Haggai 1:9
    You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.
    Deuteronomy 28:22
    The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.
  12. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:3
    O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.
    Amos 4:6
    I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me," declares the Lord.
  13. Cross References
    Haggai 2:15
    Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord.
  14. Cross References
    Haggai 2:15
    Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord.
  15. Cross References
    Haggai 2:10
    On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet.
  16. Cross References
    Ezra 3:10
    And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel.
    Zechariah 8:9
    Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who were present on the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.
  17. Cross References
    Zechariah 8:12
    For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.
  18. Cross References
    Joel 2:14
    Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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