Habakkuk 2:4-3:19
New King James Version
4 “Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the (A)just shall live by his faith.
Woe to the Wicked
5 “Indeed, because he transgresses by wine,
He is a proud man,
And he does not stay at home.
Because he (B)enlarges his desire as [a]hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.
6 “Will not all these (C)take up a proverb against him,
And a taunting riddle against him, and say,
‘Woe to him who increases
What is not his—how long?
And to him who loads himself with [b]many pledges’?
7 Will not [c]your creditors rise up suddenly?
Will they not awaken who oppress you?
And you will become their booty.
8 (D)Because you have plundered many nations,
All the remnant of the people shall plunder you,
Because of men’s [d]blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
9 “Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house,
That he may (E)set his nest on high,
That he may be delivered from the [e]power of disaster!
10 You give shameful counsel to your house,
Cutting off many peoples,
And sin against your soul.
11 For the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the beam from the timbers will answer it.
12 “Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed,
Who establishes a city by iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts
That the peoples labor [f]to feed the fire,
And nations weary themselves in vain?
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 drink to his neighbor,
[g]Pressing him to your (F)bottle,
Even to make him drunk,
That you may look on [h]his nakedness!
16 You are filled with shame instead of glory.
You also—drink!
And [i]be exposed as uncircumcised!
The cup of the Lord’s right hand will be turned against you,
And utter shame will be on your glory.
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid,
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
18 “What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of lies,
That the maker of its mold should trust in it,
To make mute idols?
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at all.
20 “But(G) the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
The Prophet’s Prayer
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on [j]Shigionoth.
2 O 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.
3 God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden.
5 Before Him went pestilence,
And fever followed at His feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
(H)And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 O Lord, were You displeased with the rivers,
Was Your anger against the rivers,
Was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
Your chariots of salvation?
9 Your bow was made quite ready;
Oaths were sworn over Your [k]arrows. Selah
You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by.
The deep uttered its voice,
And (I)lifted its hands on high.
11 The (J)sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the land in indignation;
You [l]trampled the nations in anger.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your Anointed.
You struck the head from the house of the wicked,
By laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah
14 You thrust through with his own arrows
The head of his villages.
They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.
15 (K)You walked through the sea with Your horses,
Through the heap of great waters.
16 When I heard, (L)my body trembled;
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entered my bones;
And I trembled in myself,
That I might rest in the day of trouble.
When he comes up to the people,
He will invade them with his troops.
A Hymn of Faith
17 Though 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—
18 Yet I will (M)rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 [m]The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like (N)deer’s feet,
And He will make me (O)walk on my high hills.
To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:5 Or Sheol
- Habakkuk 2:6 Syr., Vg. thick clay
- Habakkuk 2:7 Lit. those who bite you
- Habakkuk 2:8 Or bloodshed
- Habakkuk 2:9 Lit. hand of evil
- Habakkuk 2:13 Lit. for what satisfies fire, for what is of no lasting value
- Habakkuk 2:15 Lit. Attaching or Joining
- Habakkuk 2:15 Lit. their
- Habakkuk 2:16 DSS, LXX reel!; Syr., Vg. fall fast asleep!
- Habakkuk 3:1 Exact meaning unknown
- Habakkuk 3:9 Lit. tribes or rods, cf. v. 14
- Habakkuk 3:12 Or threshed
- Habakkuk 3:19 Heb. YHWH Adonai
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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