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.