Habakkuk 1

Chapter 1

Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah

¹The ^1aoracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

^2aHow long, O Lord, will I call for help,

And You will not hear?

I cry out to You, “Violence!”

Yet You do ^bnot save.

³Why do You make me ^asee iniquity,

And cause me to look on wickedness?

Yes, ^bdestruction and violence are before me;

^cStrife exists and contention arises.

⁴Therefore the ^alaw is ¹ignored

And justice ²is never upheld.

For the wicked ^bsurround the righteous;

Therefore justice comes out ^cperverted.

⁵“^aLook among the nations! Observe!

Be astonished! ^bWonder!

Because I am doing ^csomething in your days—

You would not believe if ¹you were told.

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

That ¹fierce and impetuous people

Who march ²throughout the earth

To ^3bseize dwelling places which are not theirs.

⁷“They are dreaded and ^afeared;

Their ^bjustice and ¹authority ²originate with themselves.

⁸“Their ^ahorses are swifter than leopards

And ¹keener 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.

They collect captives like sand.

¹⁰“They ^amock at kings

And rulers are a laughing matter to them.

They ^blaugh at every fortress

And ^cheap up rubble to capture it.

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

But they will be held ^bguilty,

They whose ^cstrength is their god.”

¹²Are You not from ^aeverlasting,

O Lord, my God, my Holy One?

We will not die.

You, O Lord, have ^bappointed them to judge;

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

¹³Your eyes are too ^apure to ¹approve evil,

And You can not look on wickedness with favor.

Why do You ^blook with favor

On those who deal ^ctreacherously?

Why are You ^dsilent when the wicked ^eswallow up

Those more righteous than they?

¹⁴Why have You 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 rejoice and are glad.

¹⁶Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net

and ¹burn incense to their fishing net;

Because through ^athese things their ²catch is ³large,

And their food is ⁴plentiful.

¹⁷Will they therefore empty their ^anet

And continually ^bslay nations without sparing?