Haggai 1:7-11
New English Translation
Consequences of the Failure to Rebuild the Temple
7 Moreover, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said: “Pay close attention to these things also.[a] 8 Go up to the hill country and bring back timber to build[b] the temple.[c] Then I will be pleased and honored,”[d] says the Lord. 9 “You expected a large harvest, but instead there was little.[e] And when you would bring it home, I would blow it right away.[f] Why?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Because my temple remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own house![g] 10 This is why the sky[h] has held back its dew and the earth its produce.[i] 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.”[j]
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- Haggai 1:7 tn Heb “Set your heart upon your ways”; see v. 5.
- Haggai 1:8 tn Heb “and build the house” (so NIV, NRSV), with “house” referring specifically to the temple here.
- Haggai 1:8 sn The temple was built primarily of stone, so the timber here refers to interior paneling (see v. 4) and perhaps to scaffolding (see Ezra 5:8; 6:4).
- Haggai 1:8 tn The Hebrew verb אֶכָּבְדָ (ʾekkavda) appears to be a defectively written cohortative (“that I may be glorified”). The cohortatives (note that the preceding אֶרְצֶה, ʾertseh, “I will be pleased,” may also be taken as cohortative) indicate purpose or result (cf. NIV, NRSV “so that”; CEV “so”) following the imperatives of v. 8a (“go up,” “bring back,” “build”).
- Haggai 1:9 tn Heb “Turning for much—look! It is [become] little!” The term פָּנֹה (panoh) means “turning [the head],” and here it is in order to look around. The term הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is an interjection drawing attention to the point being made.
- Haggai 1:9 tn Heb “I would blow at/against it.” The imagery here suggests that human achievements are so fragile and temporal that a mere breath from God can destroy them.
- Haggai 1:9 tn Heb “and each of you runs to his own house”; NIV “is busy with”; TEV “is busy working on”; NCV “work hard for.”
- Haggai 1:10 tn The Hebrew text has “over you” (so KJV), but this is redundant in contemporary English and has been left untranslated.
- Haggai 1:10 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).
- Haggai 1:11 tn Heb “all the labor of hands” (similar KJV, NASB, NIV); cf. NAB “all that is produced by hand.”
Haggai 1:7-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.(A) 9 You have looked for much, but it came to little, and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses.(B) 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.(C) 11 And I have called for a drought[a] on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on humans and animals, and on all their labors.”(D)
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- 1.11 Or ruin
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