Haggai 2:15

Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past, ¹  before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. ² 

"‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on— consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the LORD’s temple.

‘But now, do consider from this day onward: before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the LORD,

So think about this from now on––consider how things were going for you before you began to lay the foundation of the LORD’s Temple.

"'Think back. Before you set out to lay the first foundation stones for the rebuilding of my Temple,

And now, give thought, looking back from this day to the time before one stone was put on another in the Temple of the Lord:

But now, consider what will come to pass from this day on. Before a stone was placed upon a stone in the Lord’s temple,

‘And now, carefully consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD––

Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past, ¹  before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. ² 

¹ tn Heb “and now set your heart from this day and upward.” The juxtaposition of מָעְלָה (ma’lah, “upward”) with the following מִטֶּרֶם (mitterem, “before”) demands a look to the past. Cf. ASV “consider from this day and backward.”

² sn Before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple is best taken as referring to the laying of the present temple’s foundation, sixteen years earlier (536 b.c.; see Ezra 3:8). Cf. NCV “before you started laying stones”; TEV “before you started to rebuild”; NLT “before you began to lay (started laying CEV) the foundation.”