1 Thea Or burdenoracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw. | |
2 How long, O LORD, will I call for help,
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do not save. | |
3 Why do You make me see iniquity,
And cause me to look on wickedness?
Yes, destruction and violence are before me;
Strife exists and contention arises. | |
4 Therefore the law isb Or ineffective; lit numbedignored
And justicec Lit never goes forthis never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out perverted. | |
5 “Look among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I am doing something in your days—
You would not believe ifd Lit ityou were told. | |
6 “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
Thate Lit bitterfierce and impetuous people
Who marchf Lit the breadth ofthroughout the earth
Tog Lit take possession ofseize dwelling places which are not theirs. | |
7 “They are dreaded and feared;
Their justice andh Lit eminenceauthorityi Lit proceeds fromoriginate with themselves. | |
8 “Their horses are swifter than leopards
Andj Or more eager to attackkeener than wolves in the evening.
Theirk Or steeds paw the groundhorsemen come galloping,
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour. | |
9 “All of them come for violence.
l Or The eagerness of their facesTheir horde of faces moves forward.
They collect captives like sand. | |
10 “They mock at kings
And rulers are a laughing matter to them.
They laugh at every fortress
And heap up rubble to capture it. | |
11 “Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on.
But they will be held guilty,
They whose strength is their god.” | |
12 Are You not from everlasting,
O LORD, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge;
And You, O Rock, have established them to correct. | |
13 Your eyes are too pure tom Lit look atapprove evil,
And You can not look on wickedness with favor.
Why do You look with favor
On those who deal treacherously?
Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up
Those more righteous than they? | |
14 Why have You made men like the fish of the sea,
Like creeping things without a ruler over them? | |
15 The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook,
Drag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad. | |
16 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
Andn Or sacrificeburn incense to their fishing net;
Because through these things theiro Lit portioncatch isp Lit fat; or plentifullarge,
And their food isq Lit the fat portionplentiful. | |
17 Will they therefore empty their net
And continually slay nations without sparing? | |
