5. ‘I made a promise to you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit is still with you. So don’t be afraid.’
6. “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘In a short time I will shake the heavens and earth once again. And I will shake the sea and the dry land.
7. I will shake all the nations. All the nations will bring their wealth. Then I will fill this Temple with glory,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies.
8. ‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies.
9. ‘The new Temple will be more beautiful than the one that was destroyed,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. ‘And in this place I will give peace to the people,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies.”
10. The Lord spoke his word to Haggai the prophet. This was on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. It was in the second year that Darius was king of Persia. This is what the Lord said:
11. “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘Ask the priests what the teachings say.
12. A person might carry meat made holy for the Lord in the fold of his clothes. And that fold might touch bread, cooked food, wine, olive oil or some other food. Will the thing the fold touches be made holy for the Lord, too?’”The priests answered, “No.”
13. Then Haggai said, “A person who touches a dead body will become unclean. If he touches any of these foods, will it become unclean, too?”The priests answered, “Yes. It would become unclean.”
14. Then Haggai answered, “The Lord says this: ‘This is also true for the people of this nation. They are unclean, and everything they do with their hands is unclean to me. If these people offer something at the altar to me, it is also unclean.
15. “‘Think about this from now on! Think about how it was before you started piling stones on top of stones. Think about how it was before you started building the Temple of the Lord.
16. A person used to come to a pile of grain expecting to find 20 basketfuls. But there were only 10. And a person used to come to the wine vat to take out 50 jarfuls. But only 20 were there.
17. I destroyed your work with diseases, mildew and hail. But you still did not come to me.’ The Lord says this.