Habakkuk 1

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?