Habakkuk 1–3

1^*aThe burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

²O Lord, ^bhow long shall I ^ccry, and thou wilt not hear!

Even ^cdcry out unto thee of ^deviolence, and thou wilt not save!

³Why dost thou shew me ^finiquity, and cause me to behold ^fgrievance?

For ^gspoiling and ^efviolence are before me:

And there are that raise up ^fstrife and contention.

⁴Therefore the law ^his slacked, and judgment doth never go forth:

For ⁱthe wicked doth ^kcompass about the righteous;

Therefore ^||wrong judgment proceedeth.

^5lBehold ye among the heathen, and regard, and ^mwonder marvellously:

For I will work a work in your days,

Which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

⁶For, lo, ^n||I raise up ^othe Chaldeans, that bitter and ^phasty nation,

^ppWhich shall march through the ^†breadth of the land,

^ppTo possess the dwellingplaces ^qthat are not theirs.

⁷They are ^qqterrible and dreadful:

^||Their judgment and their ^rdignity shall proceed of themselves.

^8sTheir horses also are swifter than ^tthe leopards,

And are more ^†fierce than ^uthe evening wolves:

And their horsemen shall ^vspread themselves,

And their horsemen shall come ^wfrom far;

^xThey shall fly as ^sthe eagle ^ythat hasteth to eat.

⁹They shall come all for violence:

^||†Their faces shall sup up as the east wind,

And they shall gather ^athe captivity ^bas the sand.

¹⁰And they shall scoff at the kings,

And the princes shall be a scorn unto them:

^cThey shall deride every strong hold;

For ^dthey shall heap dust, and take it.

¹¹Then shall ^ehis mind change, and he shall pass over, and ^foffend,

^gImputing this his power unto his god.

^12hArt thou not from everlasting,

O Lord my God, mine Holy One? ⁱwe shall not die.

O Lord, ^kthou hast ordained them for judgment;

And, O ^†mighty God, ^kthou hast ^†established them for correction.

¹³Thou art of purer eyes than to ^lbehold evil,

And canst not look on ^||iniquity:

^mWherefore lookest thou upon them ^mnthat deal treacherously,

And ^oholdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth ^pthe man that is more righteous than he?

¹⁴And makest men as ^ppthe fishes of the sea,

As ^qthe ^||creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

^15rThey take up all of them with ^sthe angle,

They catch them in their ^tnet, and gather them in their ^||udrag:

Therefore they rejoice and are glad.

^16vTherefore they sacrifice unto their ^tnet, and ^vburn incense unto their ^udrag;

Because by them their portion is fat, and their meat ^||†plenteous.

¹⁷Shall they therefore empty their ^tnet,

And not spare continually to slay the nations?

2I will ^astand upon my watch, and set me upon the ^†tower,

And will ^bwatch to see ^cwhat he will say ^||unto me,

And what I shall answer ^||†when I am reproved.

²And the Lord answered me, and said,

^ccWrite the vision, and ^dmake it plain upon tables,

That he may run that readeth it.

³For ^ethe vision is yet ^ffor an appointed time,

But ^fat the end it shall speak, and not lie:

^gThough it ^htarry, ⁱwait for it;

Because ^kit will surely come, ^lit will not tarry.

⁴Behold, ^khis soul which ^mis lifted up is not upright in him:

^knBut the just shall live by his faith.

^5||Yea also, because he ^otransgresseth ^pby wine,

He is ^qa proud man, neither keepeth at home,

Who ^renlargeth his desire ^sas hell,

And is ^sas death, and cannot be satisfied,

But ^tgathereth unto him all nations,

And ^theapeth unto him all people:

⁶Shall not all these ^tttake up ^ua parable against him,

And ^va taunting ^vwproverb against him, and say,

^||Woe to him that increaseth ^xthat which is not his! ^yhow long?

And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

⁷Shall they not rise up ^zsuddenly that shall bite thee,

And awake that shall ^avex thee,

And thou shalt be ^bfor booties unto them?

^8cBecause thou hast spoiled many nations,

^cAll the remnant of the people ^dshall spoil thee;

^eBecause of men’s ^†blood, and for ^fthe violence of the land,

^eOf the city, and of all that dwell therein.

^9gWoe to him that ^||coveteth an evil covetousness to his house,

That he may set ^hhis nest ⁱon high, that he may be delivered from the ^†power of evil!

¹⁰Thou hast consulted shame to thy house

By cutting off many people,

And hast ^ksinned against thy soul.

¹¹For ^lthe stone shall cry out of the wall,

And the ^||beam out of the timber shall ^||answer it.

¹²Woe to him ^mthat buildeth a town with ^†blood,

And stablisheth a city ^mby iniquity!

¹³Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts

That ⁿthe people shall labour ^oin the very fire,

And ⁿthe people ^pshall weary themselves ^||ofor very vanity?

¹⁴For ^qrthe earth shall be filled ^||with ^qthe knowledge of ^rthe glory of the Lord,

^qAs the waters cover the sea.

¹⁵Woe unto him ^sthat giveth his neighbour drink,

That ^tputtest thy ^ubottle to him, and ^vmakest him drunken also,

^vThat thou mayest look on their nakedness!

¹⁶Thou art filled ^||with ^wshame for glory:

^xDrink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered:

^xThe cup of the Lord’s right hand shall be turned unto thee,

And ^yshameful spewing shall be on thy glory.

¹⁷For ^fthe violence of ^zLebanon shall cover thee,

And ^zzthe spoil of beasts, which made them afraid,

^eBecause of men’s blood, and for ^fthe violence of the land,

^eOf the city, and of all that dwell therein.

^18aWhat profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it;

The molten image, and ^ba teacher of lies,

That ^†the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make ^cdumb idols?

¹⁹Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach!

Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver,

And ^dthere is no breath at all in the midst of it.

²⁰But ^ethe Lord is in his holy temple:

^†Let ^gall the earth keep silence before him.

3^aA prayer of Habakkuk the prophet ^||upon Shigionoth.

²O Lord, I have heard ^†bthy speech, and ^cwas afraid:

O Lord, ^||drevive ^ethy work in the midst of the years,

In the midst of the years make known;

^fIn wrath remember mercy.

³God came from ^||gTeman,

And ^hthe Holy One from mount Paran. Selah.

His glory covered the heavens,

And the earth was full of his praise.

⁴And ⁱhis brightness was as the light;

He had ^||horns coming out of his hand:

And ^jthere was the hiding of his power.

^5kBefore him went the pestilence,

And ^||klburning coals went forth ^mat his feet.

⁶He stood, and measured the earth:

He beheld, and ⁿdrove asunder the nations;

And ^othe everlasting ^pmountains were scattered,

The perpetual ^phills did bow:

His ways are everlasting.

⁷I saw the tents of ^||qCushan ^||in ^raffliction:

And the curtains of the land of ^tMidian did tremble.

^8uWas the Lord displeased against ^vthe rivers?

Was thine anger against ^vthe rivers?

^uWas thy wrath against the sea,

That ^wthou didst ride upon thine horses and ^||thy chariots of salvation?

^9xThy bow was made quite naked,

^yAccording to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah.

^||zThou didst cleave the earth with ^vrivers.

^10aThe mountains ^bsaw thee, and ^bthey trembled:

The overflowing of the water passed by:

^cThe deep uttered his voice,

And ^dlifted up his hands on high.

^11eThe sun and moon stood still in ^ftheir habitation:

^||At the light of ^gthine arrows they went,

And at ⁱthe shining of thy glittering spear.

^12jThou didst march through the land in indignation,

Thou didst ^kthresh the heathen in anger.

^13jThou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,

Even for salvation with ^lthine anointed;

^mThou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked,

ⁿBy ^†discovering the foundation unto ^othe neck. Selah.

¹⁴Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of ^phis villages:

^qThey ^†came out as a whirlwind ^rto scatter me:

Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor ^ssecretly.

^15tThou didst walk through the sea ^uwith thine horses,

Through the ^||heap of great waters.

^16vWhen I heard, ^wmy belly trembled;

My lips quivered at the voice:

^xRottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself,

That ^yI might rest in the day of trouble:

When he cometh up unto the people, ^zhe will ^||invade them with his troops.

¹⁷Although the fig tree shall not blossom,

Neither shall fruit be in the vines;

The labour of the olive shall ^†zzfail,

And the fields shall yield no meat;

The flock shall be ^acut off from ^bthe fold,

And there shall be no herd in the stalls:

^18cYet I will rejoice in the Lord,

^dI will joy in the God of my salvation.

¹⁹The Lord God is my strength,

And he will make ^emy feet like hinds’ feet,

And ^fhe will make me to walk ^efgupon mine high places.

^hTo the chief singer on ⁱmy ^†stringed instruments.