Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says Yahweh.
- KJV Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
- NKJV Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord.
- NASB Go up to the mountains, bring wood, and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be honored,” says the Lord.
- NLT Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God commands the people to gather timber and rebuild the temple so that He may be glorified. Obedience in worship is what pleases Him.
Overview
The instruction is concrete: go to the hills, bring wood, and build. God's stated purpose is His own pleasure and glory, the chief end of all worship. The temple ultimately pointed forward to Christ, in whom God's glory dwells fully and through whom His people are now built into a spiritual house (John 2:19-21; 1 Peter 2:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ps 132:13–14For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:
- 2 Chr 7:16For I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.
- 2 Chr 2:8–10Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber there. And indeed, my servants will work with yours
- Hag 2:7I will shake all the nations, and they will come with all their treasures, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Hag 1:2–4that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.’”
- Jonah 3:1–2Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
- Ezra 3:7They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
- Exod 29:43I will also meet with the Israelites there, and that place will be consecrated by My glory.
- 1 Kgs 9:3And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and petition before Me. I have consecrated this temple you have built by putting My Name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.
- Zech 11:1–2Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars!
- John 13:31–32When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
- Ps 87:2–3The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
- Isa 66:11so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you may drink deeply and delight yourselves in her glorious abundance.
- Hag 2:9The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the LORD of Hosts. And in this place I will provide peace, declares the LORD of Hosts.”
- Isa 60:13The glory of Lebanon will come to you—its cypress, elm, and boxwood together—to adorn the place of My sanctuary, and I will glorify the place of My feet.
- Ezra 6:4with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.
- Matt 3:8–9Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.
- Isa 60:7All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will serve you and go up on My altar with acceptance; I will adorn My glorious house.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promise that the latter glory of the temple will exceed the former, and that God will shake the nations and bring 'the desire of all nations,' is fulfilled when Christ enters his temple.
How Haggai 1:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.