Haggai 2:15 (DBY)

Passage

And now, I pray you, consider from this day and onward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah,

Nearby Context

Haggai 2:13 And Haggai said, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, is it become 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 onward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah,

Haggai 2:16 before those [days] were, when one came to a heap of twenty [measures], there were but ten; when one came to the vat to draw out fifty press-measures, there were but twenty.

Haggai 2:17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the work of your hands; and ye [turned] not to me, saith Jehovah.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pray", "consider", "onward", "before", "stone", "laid", and "upon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "pray" and "consider", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "Then answered Haggai and said So is..." into verse 16's "before those days were when one came...", so "pray" and "consider" 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 "pray" and "consider" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.