"Consider your ways. 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. . . . Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it." "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." "Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of Mine house that is waste." "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings." "Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit." Haggai 1:5-9; 2:16; Malachi 3:8; Haggai 1:10.

»Læg mærke til, hvorledes det går eder! I sår meget, men bringer lidet i hus; I spiser, men mættes ikke; I drikker, men får ikke tørsten slukket; I klæder eder på, men bliver ikke varme; og daglejerens løn går i en hullet pung. ..... I venter rig høst, men det bliver kun til lidt; og når I bringer det i hus, blæser jeg derpå."»Når man kom til en dynge korn på tyve mål, var der ti; og kom man til en vinperse for at øse halvtredsindstyve mål af kummen, vat der tyve. »Hvorfor? lyder det fra Hærskarers Herre. Fordi mit hus ligger øde."»Skal et menneske bedrage Gud? I bedrager mig jo! Og I spørger: Hvorved har vi bedraget dig? Med tienden og offerydelsen!"»Derfor holder himmelen sin dug og jorden sin afgrøde tilbage.« Hagg. 1,5-9; 2,16; Mal. 3,8; Hagg. 1,10.