Habakkuk 1:6–17

⁶“For behold, I am ^araising up the Chaldeans,

That bitter and hasty nation

Who walks on the breadth of the land

To ^bpossess dwelling places which are not theirs.

⁷“They are dreaded and ^afeared;

Their ^bjustice and exaltation come forth from themselves.

⁸“Their ^ahorses are swifter than leopards

And ¹sharper than ^bwolves in the evening.

Their ²horsemen come galloping;

Their horsemen come from afar;

They fly like an ^ceagle swooping down to devour.

⁹“All of them come for violence.

¹Their horde of ^afaces moves forward.

And they gather captives like sand.

¹⁰“And they ^amock at kings,

And rulers are a laughing matter to them.

They ^blaugh at every fortress

And ^cheap up dirt and capture it.

¹¹“Then they will sweep through like the ^awind and pass on.

But they will be held ^bguilty,

They whose ^cpower is their god.”

Yahweh Has Placed Them to Judge

¹²Are You not from ^aeverlasting,

O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One?

We will not die.

You, O Yahweh, have ^bplaced them to judge;

And You, O ^cRock, have established them to reprove.

¹³Your eyes are too ^apure to see evil,

And You cannot look on trouble.

Why do You ^blook

On those who deal ^ctreacherously?

Why are You ^dsilent when the wicked ^eswallow up

Those more righteous than they?

¹⁴And You have made men like the fish of the sea,

Like creeping things without a ruler over them.

¹⁵The Chaldeans ^abring all of them up with a hook,

^bDrag them away with their net,

And gather them together in their fishing net.

Therefore they are glad and rejoice.

¹⁶Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net

And ¹burn incense to their fishing net

Because through ^athese things their portion is rich

And their food is fat.

¹⁷Will they therefore empty their ^anet

And continually ^bkill nations without sparing?