Habakkuk 1–3

1This is a vision the prophet Habakkuk received from the Lord. Here is what Habakkuk said.

Habakkuk Asks the Lord a Question

²Lord, how long do I have to call out for help?

Why don’t you listen to me?

How long must I keep telling you

that things are terrible?

Why don’t you save us?

³Why do you make me watch while

people treat others so unfairly?

Why do you put up with the wrong things

they are doing?

I have to look at death.

People are harming others.

They are arguing and fighting all the time.

⁴The law can’t do what it’s supposed to do.

Fairness never comes out on top.

Sinful people surround those

who do what is right.

So people are never treated fairly.

The Lord Gives His Answer

⁵The Lord replies,

“Look at the nations. Watch them.

Be totally amazed at what you see.

I am going to do something in your days

that you would never believe.

You would not believe it

even if someone told you about it.

⁶I am going to send the armies of Babylonia to attack you.

They are very mean. They move quickly.

They sweep across the whole earth.

They take over places

that do not belong to them.

⁷They terrify others.

They do not recognize any laws but their own.

That is how proud they are.

⁸Their horses are faster than leopards.

They are meaner than wolves in the dark.

Their horsemen charge straight into battle.

They ride in from far away.

They come down like an eagle

diving for its food.

⁹All of them are ready to destroy others.

Their huge armies advance like a wind out of the desert.

They gather prisoners like sand.

¹⁰They laugh at kings

and make fun of rulers.

They laugh at all of the cities

that have high walls around them.

They build dirt ramps against the walls

and capture the cities.

¹¹They sweep past like the wind.

Then they go on their way.

They are guilty.

They worship their own strength.”

Habakkuk Asks the Lord Another Question

¹²Lord, haven’t you existed forever?

You are my holy God.

So we won’t die, will we?

Lord, you have appointed the Babylonians

to punish your people.

My Rock, you have chosen them to judge us.

¹³Your eyes are too pure to look at what is evil.

You can’t put up with the wrong things people do.

So why do you put up

with those who can’t be trusted?

The evil Babylonians swallow up

those who are more godly than themselves.

So why are you silent?

¹⁴You have made men as if they were only fish in the sea.

They are like sea creatures that don’t have a ruler.

¹⁵The evil Babylonians pull all of them up with hooks.

They catch them in their nets.

They gather them up.

So they celebrate.

They are glad.

¹⁶They offer sacrifices to their nets.

They burn incense to them.

Their nets allow them to live in great comfort.

They enjoy the finest food.

¹⁷Are you going to let them

keep on emptying their nets?

Will they go on destroying nations

without showing them any mercy?

2I will go up to the lookout tower.

I’ll station myself on the city wall.

I’ll wait to see how the Lord will reply to me.

Then I’ll try to figure out how to answer him.

The Lord Gives His Answer

²The Lord replies,

“Write down the message I am showing you in a vision.

Write it clearly on the tablets you use.

Then a messenger can read it

and run to announce it.

³The message I give you

waits for the time I have appointed.

It speaks about what is going to happen.

And all of it will come true.

It might take a while.

But wait for it.

You can be sure it will come.

It will happen when I want it to.

⁴“The Babylonians are very proud.

What they want is not good.

“But the one who is right with God

will live by faith.

⁵“Wine makes the Babylonians do foolish things.

They are proud. They never rest.

Like the grave, they are always hungry for more.

Like death, they are never satisfied.

They gather all of the nations to themselves.

They take their people away as prisoners.

⁶“Won’t those people laugh at the Babylonians? Won’t they make fun of them? They will say to them,

“ ‘How terrible it will be for you

who pile up stolen goods!

You get rich by cheating others.

How long will that go on?

⁷Those who owe you money will suddenly rise up.

You charge them too much interest.

So they will wake up

and make you tremble with fear.

Then they will take away

everything you have.

⁸You have robbed many nations.

So the nations that are left will rob you.

You have spilled man’s blood.

You have destroyed lands and cities

and everyone in them.’

⁹“How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!

They build their kingdom with money

they gained by cheating others.

They have tried to make the kingdom

as secure as possible.

After all, they did not want to be destroyed.

¹⁰They have planned to wipe out many nations.

But they have brought shame on their own kingdom.

So they must pay with their own lives.

¹¹The stones in the walls of their homes will cry out.

And the wooden beams will echo that cry.

¹²“How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!

They build cities by spilling the blood of others.

They establish towns by committing crimes.

¹³I am the Lord who rules over all.

Human effort is no better than wood that feeds a fire.

So the nations wear themselves out for nothing.

¹⁴The oceans are full of water.

In the same way, the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of my glory.

¹⁵“How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!

They give drinks to their neighbors.

They pour the drinks from wineskins

until their neighbors are drunk.

They want to look at their naked bodies.

¹⁶But the Babylonians will be filled

with shame instead of glory.

So now it is their turn to drink

and be stripped of their clothes.

The cup of anger in my powerful right hand

is going to punish them.

They will be covered with shame instead of glory.

¹⁷The harm they have done to Lebanon

will bring them down.

Because they have killed so many animals,

animals will terrify them.

They have spilled man’s blood.

They have destroyed lands and cities

and everyone in them.

¹⁸“If someone carves a statue of a god, what is it worth?

What value is there in a god

that teaches lies?

The one who trusts in another god

worships his own creation.

He makes statues of gods that can’t speak.

¹⁹How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!

They say to a wooden god, ‘Come to life!’

They say to a stone god, ‘Wake up!’

Can those gods give advice?

They are covered with gold and silver.

They can’t even breathe.

²⁰But I am in my holy temple.

Let the whole earth be silent in front of me.”

Habakkuk Prays to the Lord

3This is a prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. It is on shigionoth. Here is what he said.

²Lord, I know how famous you are.

I have great respect for you

because of your mighty acts.

Do them again for us.

Make them known in our time.

When you are angry,

please show us your tender love.

³God, you came from Teman.

You, the Holy One, came from Mount Paran. Selah

Your glory covered the heavens.

Your praise filled the earth.

⁴Your glory was like the sunrise.

Rays of light flashed from your mighty hand.

Your power was hidden there.

⁵You sent plagues ahead of you.

Sickness followed behind you.

⁶When you stood up, the earth shook.

When you looked at the nations,

they trembled with fear.

The age-old mountains crumbled.

The ancient hills fell down.

Your mighty acts will last forever.

⁷I saw the tents of Cushan in trouble.

The people of Midian were suffering greatly.

⁸Lord, did your anger burn against the rivers?

Were you angry with the streams?

Were you angry with the Red Sea?

You rode your horses and chariots

to overcome it.

⁹You got your bow ready to use.

You asked for many arrows. Selah

You broke up the surface

of the earth with rivers.

¹⁰The mountains saw you and shook.

Floods of water swept by.

The sea roared.

It lifted its waves high.

¹¹The sun and moon stood still in the sky.

They stopped because your flying arrows flashed by.

Your gleaming spear shone like lightning.

¹²When you were angry, you marched across the earth.

Because of your anger you destroyed the nations.

¹³You came out to set your people free.

You saved your chosen ones.

You crushed Pharaoh, the leader of that evil land of Egypt.

You stripped him from head to foot. Selah

¹⁴His soldiers rushed out to scatter us.

They were laughing at us.

They thought they would easily destroy us.

They saw us as weak people who were trying to hide.

So you wounded Pharaoh’s head with his own spear.

¹⁵Your horses charged into the Red Sea.

They stirred up the great waters.

¹⁶I listened and my heart pounded.

My lips trembled at the sound.

My bones seemed to rot.

And my legs shook.

But I will be patient.

I’ll wait for the day of trouble to come on Babylonia.

It’s the nation that is attacking us.

¹⁷The fig trees might not bud.

The vines might not produce any grapes.

The olive crop might fail.

The fields might not produce any food.

There might not be any sheep in the pens.

There might not be any cattle in the barns.

¹⁸But I will still be glad

because of what the Lord has done.

God my Savior fills me with joy.

¹⁹The Lord and King gives me strength.

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer.

He helps me walk on the highest places.

This prayer is for the director of music. It should be sung while being accompanied by stringed instruments.