Habakkuk 2

Chapter 2

God Answers the Prophet

¹I will ^astand on my guard post

And station myself on the rampart;

And I will ^bkeep watch to see ^cwhat He will speak to me,

And how I may reply ¹when I am reproved.

²Then the Lord answered me and said,

“^aRecord the vision

And inscribe it on tablets,

That ¹the one who ²reads it may run.

³“For the vision is yet for the ^aappointed time;

It ¹hastens toward the goal and it will not ²fail.

Though it tarries, ^bwait for it;

For it will certainly come, it ^cwill not delay.

⁴“Behold, as for the ^aproud one,

His soul is not right within him;

But the ^brighteous will live by his ¹faith.

⁵“Furthermore, ^awine betrays the ^bhaughty man,

So that he does not ^cstay at home.

He ^denlarges his appetite like Sheol,

And he is like death, never satisfied.

He also gathers to himself all nations

And collects to himself all peoples.

⁶“Will not all of these ^atake up a taunt-song against him,

Even mockery and insinuations against him

And say, ‘^bWoe to him who increases what is not his—

For how long—

And makes himself ¹rich with loans?’

⁷“Will not ¹your creditors ^arise up suddenly,

And those who ²collect from you awaken?

Indeed, you will become plunder for them.

⁸“Because you have ^alooted many nations,

All the remainder of the peoples will loot you—

Because of human bloodshed and violence ¹done to the land,

To the town and all its inhabitants.

⁹“Woe to him who gets ^aevil gain for his house

To ^bput his nest on high,

To be delivered from the hand of calamity!

¹⁰“You have devised a ^ashameful thing for your house

By cutting off many peoples;

So you are ^bsinning against yourself.

¹¹“Surely the ^astone will cry out from the wall,

And the rafter will answer it from the ¹framework.

¹²“Woe to him who ^abuilds a city with bloodshed

And founds a town with ¹violence!

¹³“Is it not indeed from the Lord of hosts

That peoples ^atoil for fire,

And nations grow weary for nothing?

¹⁴“For the earth will be ^afilled

With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,

As the waters cover the sea.

¹⁵“Woe to you who make ¹your neighbors drink,

Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk

So as to look on their nakedness!

¹⁶“You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.

Now you yourself ^adrink and ¹expose your own nakedness.

The ^bcup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you,

And ^cutter disgrace will come upon your glory.

¹⁷“For the ^aviolence ¹done to Lebanon will ²overwhelm you,

And the devastation of its beasts ³by which you terrified them,

^bBecause of human bloodshed and ^cviolence ⁴done to the land,

To the town and all its inhabitants.

¹⁸“What ^aprofit is the ¹idol when its maker has carved it,

Or ²an image, a ^bteacher of falsehood?

For its maker ^ctrusts in his own handiwork

When he fashions speechless idols.

¹⁹“Woe to him who ^asays to a piece of wood, ‘^bAwake!’

To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’

And that is your teacher?

Behold, it is overlaid with ^cgold and silver,

And there is ^dno breath at all inside it.

²⁰“But the ^aLord is in His holy temple.

¹Let all the earth ^bbe silent before Him.”