Haggai 1:6

1:6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but are never filled. You drink, but are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but are not warm. Those who earn wages end up with holes in their money bags.’” ¹ 

Haggai 2:19

2:19 The seed is still in the storehouse, isn’t it? And the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree have not produced. Nevertheless, from today on I will bless you.’”

Haggai 2:23

2:23 On that day,’ ²  says the Lord who rules over all, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’ ³  says the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, ⁴  for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord who rules over all.” ⁵ 

Haggai 1:10-11

1:10 This is why the sky ⁶  has held back its dew and the earth its produce. ⁷  1:11 Moreover, I have called for a drought that will affect the fields, the hill country, the grain, new wine, fresh olive oil, and everything that grows from the ground; it also will harm people, animals, and everything they produce.’” ⁸ 

Haggai 1:7

The Instruction of the People

1:7 “Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says: ‘Pay close attention to these things also. ⁹ 

Haggai 1:5

1:5 Here then is what the Lord who rules over all says: ‘Think carefully about what you are doing. ¹⁰ 

Haggai 1:2

The Indifference of the People

1:2 The Lord who rules over all ¹¹  says this: “These people have said, ‘The time for rebuilding the Lord’s temple has not yet come.’” ¹² 

Haggai 2:5

2:5 ‘Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my spirit ¹³  even now testifies to you.’ ¹⁴ 

Haggai 2:15

2:15 Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past, ¹⁵  before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. ¹⁶ 

Haggai 2:9

2:9 ‘The future splendor of this temple will be greater than that of former times,’ ¹⁷  the Lord who rules over all declares, ‘and in this place I will give peace.’” ¹⁸ 

Haggai 2:16

2:16 From that time ¹⁹  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.

Haggai 1:9

1:9 ‘You expected a large harvest, but instead ²⁰  there was little, and when you brought it home it disappeared right away. ²¹  Why?’ asks the Lord who rules over all. ‘Because my temple remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own house! ²² 

¹ tn Some translate “pockets” (so NLT) but the Hebrew word צְרוֹר (tsÿror) refers to a bag, pouch, or purse of money (BDB 865 s.v. צְרוֹר; HALOT 1054 s.v. צְרוֹר 1). Because coinage had been invented by the Persians and was thus in use in Haggai’s day, this likely is a money bag or purse rather than pouches or pockets in the clothing. Since in contemporary English “purse” (so NASB, NIV, NCV) could be understood as a handbag, the present translation uses “money bags.”

² sn The expression on that day appears as a technical eschatological term in a number of other OT passages (cf., e.g., Isa 2:11, 17, 20; 3:7, 18; Amos 8:3, 9; Hos 2:18, 21).

³ sn My servant. The collocation of “servant” and “chosen” bears strong messianic overtones. See the so-called “Servant Songs” and other messianic texts in Isaiah (Isa 41:8; 42:1; 44:4; 49:7).

⁴ sn The noun signet ring, used also to describe Jehoiachin (Jer 22:24-30), refers to a ring seal worn by a king or other important person and used as his signature. Zerubbabel was a grandson of King Jehoiachin (1 Chr 3:17-19; Matt 1:12); God once pronounced that none of Jehoiachin’s immediate descendants would rule (Jer 22:24-30), but here he reverses that judgment. Zerubbabel never ascended to such a lofty position of rulership; he is rather a prototype of the Messiah who would sit on David’s throne.

⁵ tn The repetition of the formula “says the Lord who rules over all” in v. 23 emphasizes the solemn and divine nature of the promise.

³ tn The Hebrew text has “over you” (so KJV), but this is redundant in contemporary English and has been left untranslated.

⁴ sn This linkage of human sin to natural disaster is reminiscent of the curse brought upon the earth by Adam’s disobedience (Gen 3:17-19; see Rom 8:20-22).

⁴ tn Heb “all the labor of hands” (similar KJV, NASB, NIV); cf. NAB “all that is produced by hand.”

⁵ tn Heb “Set your heart upon your ways”; see v. 5.

⁶ tn Heb “Set your heart upon your ways” (see 2:15, 18); traditionally “Consider your ways” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

⁷ sn The epithet Lord who rules over all occurs frequently as a divine title throughout Haggai (see 1:5, 7, 9, 14; 2:4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 23). This name (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, yÿhvah tsÿva’ot), traditionally translated “Lord of hosts” (so KJV, NAB, NASB; cf. NIV, NLT “Lord Almighty”; NCV, CEV “Lord All-Powerful”), emphasizes the majestic sovereignty of the Lord, an especially important concept in the postexilic world of great human empires and rulers. For a thorough study of the divine title, see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 123-57.

⁸ tn Heb “the time has not come, the time for the house of the Lord to be built” (similar KJV). A number of English versions refer to “rebuilding” (so NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT) since the reconstruction of Solomon’s temple is actually in view.

⁸ sn My spirit. It is theologically anachronistic to understand “spirit” here in the NT sense as a reference to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity; nevertheless during this postexilic period the conceptual groundwork was being laid for the doctrine of the Holy Spirit later revealed in the NT.

⁹ tc The MT of v. 5 reads “with the word which I cut with you when you went out from Egypt and my spirit [which] stands in your midst, do not fear.” BHS proposes emending “with the word” to זֹאת הַבְּרִית (zo’t habbÿrit, “this is the covenant”) at the beginning of the verse. The proposed emendation makes excellent sense and is expected with the verb כָּרַת (karat, “cut” or “make” a covenant), but it has no textual support. Most English versions (including the present translation) therefore follow the MT here.

⁹ tn Heb “and now set your heart from this day and upward.” The juxtaposition of מָעְלָה (ma’lah, “upward”) with the following מִטֶּרֶם (mitterem, “before”) demands a look to the past. Cf. ASV “consider from this day and backward.”

¹⁰ sn Before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple is best taken as referring to the laying of the present temple’s foundation, sixteen years earlier (536 b.c.; see Ezra 3:8). Cf. NCV “before you started laying stones”; TEV “before you started to rebuild”; NLT “before you began to lay (started laying CEV) the foundation.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “greater will be the latter splendor of this house than the former”; NAB “greater will be the future glory.”

¹¹ tn In the Hebrew text there is an implicit play on words in the clause “in this place [i.e., Jerusalem] I will give peace”: in יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (yÿrushalayim) there will be שָׁלוֹם (shalom).

¹¹ tn Heb “from their being,” idiomatic for “from the time they were then,” or “since the time.” Cf. KJV “Since those days were.”

¹² tn Heb “look!” (הִנֵּה, hinneh). The term, an interjection, draws attention to the point being made.

¹³ tn Heb “I blew it away” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT). The imagery here suggests that human achievements are so fragile and temporal that a mere breath from God can destroy them (see Ezek 22:20, 21; and Isa 40:7 with נָשַׁב, nashav).

¹⁴ tn Heb “and each of you runs to his own house”; NIV “is busy with”; TEV “is busy working on”; NCV “work hard for.”