1 The pronouncementa that the prophet Habakkuk saw.b

HABAKKUK’S FIRST PRAYER

2 How long,c Lord, must I call for helpd

and you do not listen

or cry out to you about violencee

and you do not save?

3 Why do you force me to look at injustice?f

Why do you tolerate* 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 restrictg the righteous;

therefore, justiceh comes out perverted.

GOD’S FIRST ANSWER

5 Look at the nationsB,i and observej—

be utterly astounded!k

For I am doing something in your days

that you will not believel

when you hear about it.m

6 Look! I am raising upn the Chaldeans,C

that bitter,o impetuous nation

that marches across the earth’s open spaces

to seize territories not its own.

7 They are fiercep and terrifying;

their views of justice and sovereignty

stem from themselves.

8 Their horses are swifterq than leopardsr

and more fierceD than wolves of the night.

Their horsemen charge ahead;

their horsemen come from distant lands.

They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.s

9 All of them come to do violence;

their facest are set in determination.E

They gatheru prisoners like sand.v

10 They mockw kings,

and rulers are a joke to them.

They laughx at every fortress

and build siege ramps to capturey it.

11 Then they sweepz 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, Lord my God?aa

My Holy One,ab youG will not die.

Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment;

my Rock,ac you destined them to punish us.

13 Your eyesad are too pureae to look on evil,

and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous?af

Why are you silent

while oneH who is wicked swallows up

oneI who is more righteous than himself?

14 You have made mankind

like the fish of the sea,ag

like marine creatures that have no ruler.

15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,

catch them in their dragnet,ah

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.ai

17 Will they therefore empty their net and continually slaughter nations without mercy?