Habakkuk 1:6–17

⁶I will use the Babylonians,

those cruel and wild people

who march across the earth

and take lands that don’t belong to them.

⁷They scare and frighten people.

They do what they want to do

and are good only to themselves.

⁸Their horses are faster than leopards

and quicker than wolves at sunset.

Their horse soldiers attack quickly;

they come from places far away.

They attack quickly, like an eagle swooping down for food.

⁹They all come to fight.

Nothing can stop them.

Their prisoners are as many as the grains of sand.

¹⁰They laugh at kings

and make fun of rulers.

They laugh at all the strong, walled cities

and build dirt piles to the top of the walls to capture them.

¹¹Then they leave like the wind and move on.

They are guilty of worshiping their own strength.”

Habakkuk Complains Again

¹²Lord, you live forever,

my God, my holy God.

We will not die.

Lord, you have chosen the Babylonians to punish people;

our Rock, you picked them to punish.

¹³Your eyes are too good to look at evil;

you cannot stand to see those who do wrong.

So how can you put up with those evil people?

How can you be quiet when the wicked swallow up people who are better than they are?

¹⁴You treat people like fish in the sea,

like sea animals without a leader.

¹⁵The enemy brings them in with hooks.

He catches them in his net

and drags them in his fishnet.

So he rejoices and sings for joy.

¹⁶The enemy offers sacrifices to his net

and burns incense to worship it,

because it lets him live like the rich

and enjoy the best food.

¹⁷Will he keep on taking riches with his net?

Will he go on destroying people without showing mercy?