Haggai 2:14 (ASV)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Haggai 2:12 If 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 food, shall it become holy? And the priests answered and said, No.

Haggai 2:13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.

Haggai 2:14 Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith Jehovah; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.

Haggai 2:15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah.

Haggai 2:16 Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty [measures], there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw out fifty [vessels], there were but twenty.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "answered", "haggai", "said", "people", "nation", "before", "saith", and "jehovah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "answered" and "haggai", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "Then said Haggai If one that is..." into verse 15's "And now I pray you consider from...", so "answered" and "haggai" belong inside that flow. In Haggai context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "answered" and "haggai" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.