Habakkuk 1:1–11

^aThe oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

²O Lord, ^bhow long shall I cry for help,

and you will not hear?

Or cry to you ^c“Violence!”

and you will not save?

^3dWhy do you make me see iniquity,

and why do you idly look at wrong?

Destruction ^cand violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

^4eSo the law is paralyzed,

and justice never goes forth.

^fFor the wicked surround the righteous;

so justice goes forth perverted.

The Lord’s Answer

^5g“Look among the nations, and see;

wonder and be astounded.

^hFor I am doing a work in your days

that you would not believe if told.

⁶For behold, ⁱI am raising up the Chaldeans,

that bitter and hasty nation,

^jwho march through the breadth of the earth,

^kto seize dwellings not their own.

⁷They are dreaded and fearsome;

^ltheir justice and dignity go forth from themselves.

^8mTheir horses are swifter than leopards,

more fierce than ⁿthe evening wolves;

their horsemen press proudly on.

Their horsemen come from afar;

^othey fly like an eagle swift to devour.

⁹They all come ^pfor violence,

all their faces forward.

They gather captives ^rlike sand.

¹⁰At kings they scoff,

and at rulers they laugh.

^sThey laugh at every fortress,

for ^tthey pile up earth and take it.

¹¹Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,

^uguilty men, ^vwhose own might is their god!”