Habakkuk 2

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