Haggai 2:14 (WEB)

Passage

Then Haggai answered, “‘So is this people, and so is this nation before me,’ says Yahweh; ‘and so is every work of their hands. That which they offer there is unclean.

Nearby Context

Haggai 2:12 ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with his fold touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any food, will it become holy?’” The priests answered, “No.”

Haggai 2:13 Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, will it be unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”

Haggai 2:14 Then Haggai answered, “‘So is this people, and so is this nation before me,’ says Yahweh; ‘and so is every work of their hands. That which they offer there is unclean.

Haggai 2:15 Now, please consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid on a stone in Yahweh’s temple.

Haggai 2:16 Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty, there were only twenty.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "Then Haggai said If one who is..." into verse 15's "Now please consider from this day and...", so "haggai" and "answered" 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 "haggai" and "answered" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.