Haggai 1:6 (DBY)

Passage

Ye 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.

Nearby Context

Haggai 1:4 Is it time for you that ye should dwell in your wainscoted houses, while this house lieth waste?

Haggai 1:5 And now thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider your ways.

Haggai 1:6 Ye 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.

Haggai 1:7 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider your ways.

Haggai 1:8 Go up to the mountain and bring wood, and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith Jehovah.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sown", "much", "bring", "little", "satisfied", "drink", and "filled". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sown" and "much", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "And now thus saith Jehovah of hosts..." into verse 7's "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts Consider your...", so "sown" and "much" belong inside that flow. In Haggai context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sown" and "much" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.