10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the Lord God All-Powerful told the prophet Haggai
11 to ask the priests for their opinion on the following matters:
12 Suppose meat ready to be sacrificed to God is being carried in the folds of someone's clothing, and the clothing rubs against some bread or stew or wine or olive oil or any other food. Would those foods that were touched then become acceptable for sacrifice?“Of course not,” the priests answered.
13 Then Haggai said, “Suppose someone has touched a dead body and is considered unacceptable to worship God. If that person touches these foods, would they become unclean?”“Of course they would,” the priests answered.
14 So the Lord told Haggai to say:That's how it is with this entire nation. Everything you do and every sacrifice you offer is unacceptable to me.
15 But from now on, things will get better. Before you started laying the foundation for the temple,
16 you recalled what life was like in the past. When you wanted 200 kilograms of wheat, there were only 10, and when you wanted 50 jars of wine, there were only 20.