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Now thus says the Lord of hosts:
    Reflect on your experience![a]
You have sown much, but have brought in little;
    you have eaten, but have not been satisfied;(A)
You have drunk, but have not become intoxicated;
    you have clothed yourselves, but have not been warmed;
And the hired worker labors for a bag full of holes.

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

Reflect on your experience!
Go up into the hill country;
    bring timber, and build the house
that I may be pleased with it,
    and that I may be glorified,[b] says the Lord.
You expected much, but it came to little;
    and what you brought home, I blew away.
Why is this?—oracle of the Lord[c] of hosts—
    Because my house is the one which lies in ruins,
    while each of you runs to your own house.
10 Therefore, the heavens withheld the dew,
    and the earth its yield.
11 And I have proclaimed a devastating heat[d]
    upon the land and upon the mountains,
Upon the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil,
    upon all that the ground brings forth;
Upon human being and beast alike,
    and upon all they produce.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:5 Reflect on your experience: the prophet exhorts the people to consider the futility of their efforts as a result of their neglecting work on the Temple. The following verses call attention to harsh conditions in Judah after the return from exile and the preoccupation of the people with their personal concerns.
  2. 1:8 That I may be glorified: for the prophet, the rebuilding of the Temple restores the glory God had lost in the eyes of the nations by the Temple’s destruction.
  3. 1:9 Oracle of the Lord: a phrase used extensively in prophetic books to indicate divine speech.
  4. 1:11 Devastating heat: this pronouncement of natural disaster, which functions as a warning to the people for their failure to rebuild the Temple, concludes the opening oracular section of Haggai.