diff --git a/command/output.go b/command/output.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7e5ec1776
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/output.go
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+package command
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
+)
+
+// OutputCommand is a Command implementation that reads an output
+// from a Terraform state and prints it.
+type OutputCommand struct {
+	Meta
+}
+
+func (c *OutputCommand) Run(args []string) int {
+	var statePath string
+
+	args = c.Meta.process(args)
+
+	cmdFlags := flag.NewFlagSet("output", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	cmdFlags.StringVar(&statePath, "state", DefaultStateFilename, "path")
+	cmdFlags.Usage = func() { c.Ui.Error(c.Help()) }
+	if err := cmdFlags.Parse(args); err != nil {
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	args = cmdFlags.Args()
+	if len(args) != 1 {
+		c.Ui.Error(
+			"The output command expects exactly one argument with the name\n" +
+				"of an output variable.\n")
+		cmdFlags.Usage()
+		return 1
+	}
+	name := args[0]
+
+	f, err := os.Open(statePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Error loading file: %s", err))
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	state, err := terraform.ReadState(f)
+	f.Close()
+	if err != nil {
+		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Error reading state: %s", err))
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	if len(state.Outputs) == 0 {
+		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf(
+			"The state file has no outputs defined. Define an output\n" +
+				"in your configuration with the `output` directive and re-run\n" +
+				"`terraform apply` for it to become available."))
+		return 1
+	}
+	v, ok := state.Outputs[name]
+	if !ok {
+		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf(
+			"The output variable requested could not be found in the state\n" +
+				"file. If you recently added this to your configuration, be\n" +
+				"sure to run `terraform apply`, since the state won't be updated\n" +
+				"with new output variables until that command is run."))
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	c.Ui.Output(v)
+	return 0
+}
+
+func (c *OutputCommand) Help() string {
+	helpText := `
+Usage: terraform output [options] NAME
+
+  Reads an output variable from a Terraform state file and prints
+  the value.
+
+Options:
+
+  -state=path      Path to the state file to read. Defaults to
+                   "terraform.tfstate".
+
+`
+	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)
+}
+
+func (c *OutputCommand) Synopsis() string {
+	return "Read an output from a state file"
+}
diff --git a/command/output_test.go b/command/output_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3c4a29e20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/output_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+package command
+
+import (
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/cli"
+)
+
+func TestOutput(t *testing.T) {
+	originalState := &terraform.State{
+		Outputs: map[string]string{
+			"foo": "bar",
+		},
+	}
+
+	statePath := testStateFile(t, originalState)
+
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &OutputCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"-state", statePath,
+		"foo",
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+
+	actual := strings.TrimSpace(ui.OutputWriter.String())
+	if actual != "bar" {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", actual)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOutput_badVar(t *testing.T) {
+	originalState := &terraform.State{
+		Outputs: map[string]string{
+			"foo": "bar",
+		},
+	}
+
+	statePath := testStateFile(t, originalState)
+
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &OutputCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"-state", statePath,
+		"bar",
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOutput_manyArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &OutputCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"bad",
+		"bad",
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.OutputWriter.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOutput_noArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &OutputCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.OutputWriter.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOutput_noVars(t *testing.T) {
+	originalState := &terraform.State{
+		Outputs: map[string]string{},
+	}
+
+	statePath := testStateFile(t, originalState)
+
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &OutputCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"-state", statePath,
+		"bar",
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOutput_stateDefault(t *testing.T) {
+	originalState := &terraform.State{
+		Outputs: map[string]string{
+			"foo": "bar",
+		},
+	}
+
+	// Write the state file in a temporary directory with the
+	// default filename.
+	td, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "tf")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	statePath := filepath.Join(td, DefaultStateFilename)
+
+	f, err := os.Create(statePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	err = terraform.WriteState(originalState, f)
+	f.Close()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// Change to that directory
+	cwd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	if err := os.Chdir(filepath.Dir(statePath)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	defer os.Chdir(cwd)
+
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &OutputCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"foo",
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+
+	actual := strings.TrimSpace(ui.OutputWriter.String())
+	if actual != "bar" {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", actual)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/commands.go b/commands.go
index ee0dc69ba..e7e4d052d 100644
--- a/commands.go
+++ b/commands.go
@@ -45,6 +45,12 @@ func init() {
 			}, nil
 		},
 
+		"output": func() (cli.Command, error) {
+			return &command.OutputCommand{
+				Meta: meta,
+			}, nil
+		},
+
 		"plan": func() (cli.Command, error) {
 			return &command.PlanCommand{
 				Meta: meta,