1The burden that Habakkuk the prophet saw.2O LORD, how long will I cry out and You will not hear! I even cry out to You about violence, and You will not save!a3Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to behold injustice? For plunder and violence are before me. And there are those who raise up strife and contention.4Therefore, the law is powerless and judgment never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous. Therefore, justice goes forth perverted.b5"Look among the nations and wonder and be astonished. For I will work a work in your days that you will not believe, though it is told to you.c6"For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, that will march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.d7"They are terrible and dreadful. Their justice and their dignity will proceed from themselves.8"Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. And their horsemen press on proudly. And their horsemen will come from afar. They will fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.e9"They will all come for violence. Their faces are set as the east wind, and they will gather the captivity as the sand.10"And they will scoff at the kings, and the princes will be a scorn to them. They will deride every stronghold, for they will heap earthen mounds and take it.11"Then his mind will change and he will pass over and offend, ascribing this power to his god."f12Are You not from everlasting, O LORD my God, My Holy One? We will not die. O LORD, You have ordained them for judgment. And O Mighty God, You have established them for correction.g13Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil. And You cannot look on iniquity. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours the one who is more righteous than he?h14Why do You make men as the fish of the sea, as the creeping things who have no ruler over them?15They take up all of them with the hook. They catch them in their net and gather them in their dragnet. Therefore, they rejoice and are glad.16Therefore, they sacrifice to their net and burn incense to their dragnet, because by them their share is large and their food plentiful.i17Will they, therefore, empty their net and continually slay the nations without pity?
a Lm 3:8 b Mc 2:1,2; 3:1-3 c Jb 21:5-16 d Jr 12:1 e Is 29:14 f 2 Kg 24:2 g Ez 7:24; 21:31 h Jr 4:13 i Hs 8:1 j Dn 5:4 k Ps 90:2; 93:2 l Is 10:5-7 m Jr 25:9 n Dt 8:17
Chapter 2
1I will stand on my watch and set myself on the ramparts. And I will watch to see what He will say to me and what I will answer when I am corrected.a2Then the LORD answered me and said, "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets so that he may run who reads it.b3"For the vision is yet for an appointed time. But at the end it will speak and not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come. It will not tarry.c4"Behold the proud, his desires are not upright. But the just will live by his faith.d5"Indeed, wine betrays him. He is an arrogant man and does not stay at home. He enlarges his desire as Sheol. And as death, he cannot be satisfied. But he gathers to himself all nations and heaps to himself all people.e6"Will not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, 'Woe to him who increases that which is not his--for how long--and loads himself with many pledges?'7"Will not your creditors rise up suddenly, and those who collect from you awaken? Indeed, you will become plunder for them.8"Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the people will plunder you, because of men's blood and for the violence of the land and of the city and of all who dwell in it.f9"Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house so that he may set his nest on high, so that he may be delivered from the power of evil!g10"You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many people, and have sinned against your soul.11"For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber will answer it.12"Woe to him who builds a town with blood and establishes a city by iniquity!13"Behold, has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people's labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?14"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.15"Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, who puts your bottle to him and makes him drunken also, so that you may look on their nakedness!h16"You are filled with shame instead of glory. Now you drink and are exposed. The cup of the LORD'S right hand will come to you and complete disgrace will be on your glory.17"For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you, and the devastation of its beasts that made them afraid, because of men's blood and the violence of the land and of the city, and of all who dwell in it.18"What profit is the graven image when its maker has carved it, the molten image and a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own handiwork when he fashions speechless idols.19"Woe to him who says to the wood, 'Awake,' and to the speechless stone, 'Arise.' Will it be your teacher? Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all inside it.20"But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him."i
a Is 21:8,11 b Is 8:1 c Dn 8:17,19; 10:14 d Ez 12:24,25 e Hb 10:37,38 f 2 Pt 3:9 g Jn 3:36; Rm 1:17 h Is 5:11-15 i Mc 2:4 j Is 33:1 k Ob 4 l Hs 7:5 m Zp 1:7
Chapter 3
1A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shigionoth.2O LORD, I have heard your speech and was afraid. O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known. In wrath remember mercy.3God came from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise.a4And His brightness was as the light. He had rays flashing from His hand. And there His power was hidden.5Before Him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at His feet.6He stood and measured the earth. He beheld, and startled the nations. And the everlasting mountains were scattered. The perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting.b7I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction. The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.8Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? Was Your anger against the rivers? Was Your wrath against the sea, that You rode on Your horses and Your chariots of salvation?9Your bow was made bare according to the oaths of the tribes, even Your word. You divided the earth with waters.10The mountains saw You and they trembled. The overflowing of the water passed by. The deep uttered its voice and lifted up its hands on high.11The sun and moon stood still in their habitation. At the light of Your arrows they went, at the shining of Your glittering spear.c12You marched through the land in indignation. You threshed the nations in anger.13You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for salvation with Your anointed one. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked. You stripped him from head to foot.14With his own spear You pierced his head when they came out as a whirlwind to scatter us. Their rejoicing was like those who devour the poor in secret.15You walked through the sea with Your horses, through the heap of great waters.d16When I heard, my stomach trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Decay entered into my bones and I trembled in myself, so that I might rest in the day of trouble. When he comes up to the people, he will invade them with his troops.e17Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,18yet I will rejoice in the LORD. I rejoice in the God of my salvation.f19The LORD God is my strength and He will make my feet like the feet of gazelle. And He will make me walk on my heights. (For the chief singer on my stringed instruments.)g
a Nh 1:5 b Ex 14:22 c Ja 10:12-14 d Ps 77:19 e Ps 119:120 f Is 41:16; 61:10 g 2 Sm 22:34 h Dt 32:13; 33:29