Hag 1:11

“(Verse 11.) And I called upon drought upon the earth, and upon the mountains, and upon the wheat, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon whatever the earth brings forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon every labor of the hands. For drought, the Seventy translated as 'gladius', that is, sword: but I also found it written in Hebrew with three letters (), Heth, Res, Beth, which if we read as Hareb, it means sword; if Oreb, it means burning, which we have translated as drought, although it could be better translated as scorching wind. And truly, since the discourse is about the land, and about the sterility of the fields, it seems to me that the scorching wind should be understood in the present place, rather than a sword: although every plague that is inflicted on men because of their sins can also be understood as a sword. But drought, or a sword, has been called upon the land and the mountains, so that they do not produce wheat, and wine, and oil, and whatever the earth produces spontaneously. Moreover, preceding famine, death comes upon men, and upon beasts as a consequence. And the same sword or burning wind consumes everything that the hands of men have labored. It is called and introduced living speech of God, and effective, and sharp above every two-edged sword (Heb. IV), so that the neglectful soul (which is interpreted as a dry land, and desires to dwell more in hollows than to build the house of God) may be struck by its blade, and whatever fruits it thinks it has, may be scattered. The sword is also brought against the mountains that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, and against the wheat, and wine, and oil, with which they deceive the people who have been deceived by the assemblies of heretics, as if with food and drink and refreshment: One may rightly say that their bread is the bread of sorrow, and their wine is the fury of dragons, and the fury of unhealable asps. Also, the oil, the promise of heavenly things, with which they anoint their disciples, and promise rewards for their labors, which the prophet detests, saying: But the oil of the sinner shall not anoint my head (Psal. CXL). But the sword of God strikes also other things which they find and fabricate without authority and testimonies of the Scriptures, by their own tradition of the apostles; but we shall understand men and beasts, or reasonings and perceptions, that is, their thoughts and senses. Certainly there are rational and irrational ones among them, that is, learned and unlearned alike, and all kinds of manual labor, and their fasts, and various observances, and sham rest, that is, sleeping on the ground. Those who fast three times a year for forty days, and afflict their souls with dry food, and especially those who grow from the root of Tatian, hear of such labors: You have suffered so much without cause. But all these things that I have said can be understood about the rulers of the Church, who, while building their earthly house and providing for their children and possessions, do not care to build the temple of God within themselves or the Church of the Lord, which is uncovered and in ruins: their often inconsistent life and speech scandalize many, and they are expelled from the Church and led to the solitude of the house of God. And by saying this, we do not accuse all people in general, but rather that in every duty and position there are some who build up and others who tear down the temple of God. And because of their vice, neither the dew of the heavens nor the fruit of the earth may be dried up, the soil may be parched, the mountains may be barren, wheat and oil and all that the earth produces may perish, and even the people themselves and the animals, and all the work of hands, may be destroyed by the sword or by drought or by burning wind.”