Hagai 2:14

2:14 Then Haggai responded, “‘The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,’ ¹  says the Lord. ‘And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean. ² 

Hagai 2:16

2:16 From that time ³  when one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it, there were only twenty.

[2:14]  ¹ tn Heb “so this people, and so this nation before me.” In this context “people” and “nation” refer to the same set of individuals; the repetition is emphatic. Cf. CEV “this entire nation.”

[2:14]  ² sn The point here is that the Jews cannot be made holy by unholy fellowship with their pagan neighbors; instead, they and their worship will become corrupted by such associations.

[2:16]  ³ tn Heb “from their being,” idiomatic for “from the time they were then,” or “since the time.” Cf. KJV “Since those days were.”