Habakkuk 1-2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.(A)
Habakkuk’s First Prayer
2 How long,(B) Lord, must I call for help(C)
and You do not listen
or cry out to You about violence
and You do not save?
3 Why do You force me to look at injustice?(D)
Why do You tolerate[a] wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
4 This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict(E) the righteous;
therefore, justice(F) comes out perverted.
God’s First Answer
5 Look at the nations[b](G) and observe(H)—
be utterly astounded!(I)
For something is taking place in your days
that you will not believe(J)
when you hear about it.(K)
6 Look! I am raising up(L) the Chaldeans,[c]
that bitter,(M) impetuous nation
that marches across the earth’s open spaces
to seize territories not its own.
7 They are fierce(N) and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter(O) than leopards(P)
and more fierce[d] than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead;
their horsemen come from distant lands.
They fly like an eagle, swooping to devour.(Q)
9 All of them come to do violence;
their faces(R) are set in determination.[e]
They gather(S) prisoners like sand.(T)
10 They mock(U) kings,
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh(V) at every fortress
and build siege ramps to capture(W) it.
11 Then they sweep(X) by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty;[f] their strength is their god.
Habakkuk’s Second Prayer
12 Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God?
My Holy One,(Y) You[g] will not die.
Lord, You appointed them to execute judgment;
my Rock,(Z) You destined them to punish us.
13 Your eyes(AA) are too pure(AB) to look on evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous?(AC)
Why are You silent
while one[h] who is wicked swallows up
one[i] who is more righteous than himself?
14 You have made mankind
like the fish of the sea,(AD)
like marine creatures that have no ruler.
15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet,(AE)
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.
16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful.(AF)
17 Will they therefore empty their net[j]
and continually slaughter nations without mercy?
Habakkuk Waits for God’s Response
2 I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.(AG)
I will watch to see what He will say to me(AH)
and what I should[k] reply about my complaint.
God’s Second Answer
2 The Lord answered me:
Write down this vision;(AI)
clearly inscribe it on tablets
so one may easily read it.[l]
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.(AJ)
4 Look, his ego is inflated;[m]
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.[n](AK)
5 Moreover, wine[o] betrays;
an arrogant man is never at rest.[p]
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
and like Death he is never satisfied.(AL)
He gathers all the nations to himself;
he collects all the peoples for himself.
The Five Woe Oracles
6 Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,
with mockery and riddles about him?
They will say:
Woe to him who amasses what is not his—
how much longer?—
and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.(AM)
7 Won’t your creditors suddenly arise,
and those who disturb you wake up?
Then you will become spoil for them.(AN)
8 Since you have plundered many nations,
all the peoples who remain will plunder you—
because of human bloodshed
and violence against lands, cities,
and all who live in them.(AO)
9 Woe to him who dishonestly makes
wealth for his house[q]
to place his nest on high,
to escape from the reach of disaster!(AP)
10 You have planned shame for your house
by wiping out many peoples
and sinning against your own self.
11 For the stones will cry out(AQ) from the wall,
and the rafters will answer them
from the woodwork.
12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and founds a town with injustice!(AR)
13 Is it not from the Lord of Hosts
that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire
and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?(AS)
14 For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,
as the waters cover the sea.(AT)
15 Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath[r]
and even making them drunk,
in order to look at their nakedness!
16 You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.
You also—drink,
and expose your uncircumcision![s]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and utter disgrace will cover your glory.(AU)
17 For your violence against Lebanon
will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you[t]
because of your human bloodshed and violence
against lands, cities, and all who live in them.
18 What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes idols that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!
or to mute stone: Come alive!
Can it teach?
Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,
yet there is no breath in it at all.
20 But the Lord is in His holy temple;
let everyone on earth
be silent in His presence.(AV)
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:3 Lit observe
- Habakkuk 1:5 DSS, LXX, Syr read Look, you treacherous people
- Habakkuk 1:6 = the Babylonians
- Habakkuk 1:8 Or and quicker
- Habakkuk 1:9 Hb obscure
- Habakkuk 1:11 Or wind, and transgress and incur guilt
- Habakkuk 1:12 Ancient Jewish tradition reads we
- Habakkuk 1:13 = Babylon
- Habakkuk 1:13 = Judah
- Habakkuk 1:17 DSS read sword
- Habakkuk 2:1 Syr reads what He will
- Habakkuk 2:2 Lit one who reads in it may run
- Habakkuk 2:4 Hb obscure
- Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
- Habakkuk 2:5 DSS read wealth
- Habakkuk 2:5 Or man does not endure; Hb obscure
- Habakkuk 2:9 Or dynasty
- Habakkuk 2:15 Or venom
- Habakkuk 2:16 DSS, LXX, Aq, Syr, Vg read and stagger
- Habakkuk 2:17 DSS, LXX, Aq, Syr, Tg, Vg; MT reads them
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