Haggai 1 · Verse 6

Haggai 1:6

Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Haggai 1:6, King James Version

Haggai 1:6 in other translations

BSBYou have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”
WEBYou have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.’
ASVYe have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
YLTYe have sown much, and brought in little, To eat, and not to satiety, To drink, and not to drunkenness, To clothe, and none hath heat, And he who is hiring himself out, Is hiring himself for a bag pierced through.
DARBYYe have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but are not satisfied; ye drink, but are not filled with drink; ye clothe yourselves, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages for a bag with holes.
BBEMuch has been planted, but little got in; you take food, but have not enough; you take drink, but are not full; you are clothed, but no one is warm; and he who gets payment for his work, gets it to put it into a bag full of holes.
WebsterYe have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe yourselves, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

What does Haggai 1:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. Nothing has prospered with you while you neglected your duty to God. The punishment corresponds to the sin. They thought to escape poverty by not building, but keeping their money to themselves; God brought it on them for not building (Pr 13:7; 11:24; Mt 6:33). Instead of cheating God, they had been only cheating themselves. ye clothe ... but ... none warm--through insufficiency of clothing; as ye are unable through poverty from failure of your crops to purchase sufficient clothing. The verbs are infinitive, implying a continued state: "Ye have sown, and been bringing in but little; ye have been eating, but not to being satisfied; ye have been drinking, but not to being filled; ye have been putting on clothes, but not to being warmed" [Moore]. Careful consideration of God's dealings with us will indicate God's will regarding us. The events of life are the hieroglyphics in which God records His feelings towards us, the key to which is found in the Bible [Moore]. wages ... put ... into a bag with holes--proverbial for labor and money spent profitlessly (Zec 8:10; compare Is 55:2; Jr 2:13). Contrast, spiritually, the "bags that wax not old, the treasure in heaven that faileth not" (Lu 12:33). Through the high cost of necessaries, those who wrought for a day's wages parted with them at once, as if they had put them into a bag with holes.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 6 Ye have sown much - God will not bless you in any labor of your hands, unless you rebuild his temple and restore his worship. This verse contains a series of proverbs, no less than five in the compass of a few lines.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Haggai 1:1-11

Observe the sin of the Jews, after their return from captivity in Babylon. Those employed for God may be driven from their work by a storm, yet they must go back to it. They did not say that they would not build a temple, but, Not yet. Thus men do not say they will never repent and reform, and be religious, but, Not yet. And so the great business we were sent into the world to do, is not done. There is a proneness…

Read the full comment on Haggai 1:1-11 →

Haggai 1:6 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

זְרַעְתֶּ֨םze.ra'.Temyou have sownH2232
הַרְבֵּ֜הhar.BehmuchH7235
וְהָבֵ֣אve.ha.Ve'and you have broughtH935
מְעָ֗טme.'AtlittleH4592
אָכ֤וֹל'a.Kholyou have eatenH398
וְאֵין\־ve.'ein-and notH369
לְשָׂבְעָה֙le.sa.ve.'Ahto satietyH7654
שָׁת֣וֹsha.Toyou have drunkH8354
וְאֵין\־ve.'ein-and notH369
לְשָׁכְרָ֔הle.sha.khe.Rahto become drunkH7937
לָב֖וֹשׁla.Vo.oshyou have dressedH3847
וְאֵין\־ve.'ein-and notH369
לְחֹ֣םle.Chomto be warmH2552
ל֑וֹloto him
וְהַ֨מִּשְׂתַּכֵּ֔רve.Ham.mis.ta.Kerand the [one who] earns wagesH7936
מִשְׂתַּכֵּ֖רmis.ta.Ker[is] earning wagesH7936
אֶל\־'el-toH413
צְר֥וֹרtze.Rora bagH6872
נָקֽוּב\׃\ \פna.KuvpiercedH5344

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Haggai 1:6

  • Haggai 1:9

    Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.

  • Hosea 4:10

    For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.

  • Deuteronomy 28:38-40

    Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

  • Haggai 2:16

    Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.

  • Hosea 8:7

    For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

  • Malachi 3:9-11

    Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

  • Malachi 2:2

    If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

  • Isaiah 5:10

    Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

  • Zechariah 5:4

    I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

  • Zechariah 8:10

    For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.

  • 2 Samuel 21:1

    Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

  • Joel 1:10-13

    The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
have.
9; 2:16; Le 26:20; De 28:38-40; 2Sa 21:1; Ps 107:34; Isa 5:10
Jer 14:4; Ho 4:10; 8:7; Joe 1:10-13; Am 4:6-9; Mic 6:14,15; Zec 8:10
Mal 2:2; 3:9-11
eat.
Le 26:26; 1Ki 17:12; Job 20:22; Jer 44:18; Eze 4:16,17
with holes. Heb. pierced through.
Job 20:28; Zec 5:4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Haggai 1:5

    Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

  • Haggai 1:6

    Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

  • Haggai 1:7

    Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

Read all of Haggai 1

Haggai 1:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Sembráis mucho, y encerráis poco; coméis, y no os hartáis; bebéis, y no os saciáis; os vestís, y no os calentáis; y el que anda á jornal recibe su jornal en trapo horadado.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Vous avez semé beaucoup, et vous rentrez peu; vous mangez, mais vous n’êtes pas rassasiés; vous buvez, mais vous n’en avez pas assez; vous vous vêtez, mais personne n’a chaud; et celui qui travaille pour des gages, travaille pour les mettre dans une bourse trouée.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ihr habt viel gesät und wenig eingebracht; ihr esset, aber nicht zur Sättigung; ihr trinket, aber nicht zur Genüge; ihr kleidet euch, aber es wird keinem warm; und der Lohnarbeiter erwirbt Lohn für einen durchlöcherten Beutel.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Seminastis multum, et intulistis parum; comedistis, et non estis satiati; bibistis, et non estis inebriati; operuistis vos, et non estis calefacti; et qui mercedes congregavit, misit eas in sacculum pertusum.