10 On the atwenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying,

11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘aAsk now the priests for a 1ruling:

12 ‘If a man carries aholy meat in the 1fold of his garment, and touches bread with 2this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’ ” And the priests answered, “No.”

13 Then Haggai said, “aIf one who is unclean from a 1corpse touches any of these, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.”

14 Then Haggai said, “ ‘aSo is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.

15 ‘But now, do 1aconsider from this day 2onward: before one bstone was placed on another in the temple of the Lord,

16 1from that time when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty 2measures, there would be only twenty.

17 ‘I smote you and every work of your hands with ablasting wind, mildew and hail; 1yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord.

18 ‘Do 1aconsider from this day 2onward, from the btwenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the Lord was cfounded, 1consider:

19 ‘Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will abless you.’ ”