“Therefore,
The heavens above you
Have withheld
The dew.
The earth has withheld
Its produce.
I have called
For a drought
On the land,
On the hills,
On the grain,
On the new wine,
On the oil,
On what the soil produces,
On human beings,
On animals,
On all their labors.’”
Haggai said that Yahweh was punishing them with a drought. The heavens were withholding their dew from the high skies, while the earth was withholding its products from below the ground. Yahweh had called for a drought on practically everything, including the land, the hills, the grain, the new wine, the oil, and whatever the soil produced, even on human beings and animals, including their work.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 