Habakkuk 1–2

1The pronouncement^a that the prophet Habakkuk saw.^b

HABAKKUK’S FIRST PRAYER

²How long,^c Lord, must I call for help^d

and you do not listen

or cry out to you about violence^e

and you do not save?

³Why 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.

⁴This is why the law is ineffective

and justice never emerges.

For the wicked restrict^g the righteous;

therefore, justice^h comes out perverted.

GOD’S FIRST ANSWER

⁵Look at the nations^Bi and observe^j—

be utterly astounded!^k

For I am doing something in your days

that you will not believe^l

when you hear about it.^m

⁶Look! 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.

⁷They are fierce^p and terrifying;

their views of justice and sovereignty

stem from themselves.

⁸Their horses are swifter^q than leopards^r

and more fierce^D than wolves of the night.

Their horsemen charge ahead;

their horsemen come from distant lands.

They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.^s

⁹All of them come to do violence;

their faces^t are set in determination.^E

They gather^u prisoners like sand.^v

¹⁰They mock^w kings,

and rulers are a joke to them.

They laugh^x at every fortress

and build siege ramps to capture^y it.

¹¹Then they sweep^z by like the wind

and pass through.

They are guilty;^F their strength is their god.

HABAKKUK’S SECOND PRAYER

¹²Are you not from eternity, Lord my God?^aa

My Holy One,^ab you^G will not die.

Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment;

my Rock,^ac you destined them to punish us.

¹³Your eyes^ad are too pure^ae to look on evil,

and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous?^af

Why are you silent

while one^A who is wicked swallows up

one^B who is more righteous than himself?

¹⁴You have made mankind

like the fish of the sea,^ag

like marine creatures that have no ruler.

¹⁵The 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.

¹⁶That 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

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

HABAKKUK WAITS FOR GOD’S RESPONSE

2I will stand at my guard post

and station myself on the lookout tower.^a

I will watch to see what he will say to me^b

and what I should^C reply about my complaint.

GOD’S SECOND ANSWER

²The Lord answered me:

Write down this vision;^c

clearly inscribe it on tablets

so one may easily read it.^D

³For the vision is yet for the appointed time;^d

it testifies about the end and will not lie.

Though it delays, wait for it,

since it will certainly come and not be late.^e

⁴Look, his ego is inflated;^E

he is without integrity.

But the righteous one will live by his faith.^Ff

⁵Moreover, wine^G betrays;

an arrogant man is never at rest.^H

He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,

and like Death he is never satisfied.^g

He gathers all the nations to himself;^h

he collects all the peoples for himself.

THE FIVE WOE ORACLES

⁶Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,ⁱ

with mockery and riddles about him?

They will say:

Woe to him who amasses what is not his—

how much longer?—^j

and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.”^k

⁷Won’t your creditors suddenly arise,

and those who disturb you wake up?

Then you will become spoil for them.^l

⁸Since you have plundered many nations,^m

all the peoples who remain will plunder youⁿ—

because of human bloodshed

and violence^o against lands, cities,

and all who live in them.^p

⁹Woe to him who dishonestly makes

wealth for his house^Aq

to place his nest on high,

to escape the grasp of disaster!^r

¹⁰You have planned shame for your house

by wiping out many peoples

and sinning against your own self.

¹¹For the stones will cry out^s from the wall,

and the rafters will answer them

from the woodwork.

¹²Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed

and founds a town with injustice!^t

¹³Is it not from the Lord of Armies

that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire

and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?^u

¹⁴For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,

as the water covers the sea.^v

¹⁵Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,

pouring out your wrath^B

and even making them drunk,

in order to look at their nakedness!

¹⁶You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.

You also—drink,

and expose your uncircumcision!^C

The cup in the Lord’s right hand

will come around to you,

and utter disgrace will cover your glory.^w

¹⁷For your violence against Lebanon

will overwhelm you;

the destruction of animals will terrify you^D

because of your human bloodshed and violence

against lands, cities, and all who live in them.

¹⁸What 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 worthless idols that cannot speak.

¹⁹Woe 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^a in it at all.

²⁰But the Lord is in his holy temple;^b

let the whole earth

be silent in his presence.^c