Habakkuk 1–2

1The prophecy^a that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

²How long,^b Lord, must I call for help,

but you do not listen?^c

Or cry out to you, “Violence!”

but you do not save?^d

³Why do you make me look at injustice?

Why do you tolerate^e wrongdoing?^f

Destruction and violence^g are before me;

there is strife,^h and conflict abounds.

⁴Therefore the lawⁱ is paralyzed,

and justice never prevails.

The wicked hem in the righteous,

so that justice^j is perverted.^k

The Lord’s Answer

⁵“Look at the nations and watch—

and be utterly amazed.^l

For I am going to do something in your days

that you would not believe,

even if you were told.^m

⁶I am raising up the Babylonians,^an

that ruthless and impetuous people,

who sweep across the whole earth^o

to seize dwellings not their own.^p

⁷They are a feared and dreaded people;^q

they are a law to themselves

and promote their own honor.

⁸Their horses are swifter^r than leopards,

fiercer than wolves^s at dusk.

Their cavalry gallops headlong;

their horsemen come from afar.

They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;

⁹they all come intent on violence.

Their hordes^b advance like a desert wind

and gather prisoners^t like sand.

¹⁰They mock kings

and scoff at rulers.^u

They laugh at all fortified cities;

by building earthen ramps^v they capture them.

¹¹Then they sweep past like the wind^w and go on—

guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”^x

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

¹²Lord, are you not from everlasting?^y

My God, my Holy One,^z you^c will never die.^a

You, Lord, have appointed^b them to execute judgment;

you, my Rock,^c have ordained them to punish.

¹³Your eyes are too pure^d to look on evil;

you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.^e

Why then do you tolerate^f the treacherous?^g

Why are you silent while the wicked

swallow up those more righteous than themselves?^h

¹⁴You have made people like the fish in the sea,

like the sea creatures that have no ruler.

¹⁵The wickedⁱ foe pulls all of them up with hooks,^j

he catches them in his net,^k

he gathers them up in his dragnet;

and so he rejoices and is glad.

¹⁶Therefore he sacrifices to his net

and burns incense^l to his dragnet,

for by his net he lives in luxury

and enjoys the choicest food.

¹⁷Is he to keep on emptying his net,

destroying nations without mercy?^m

2I will stand at my watchⁿ

and station myself on the ramparts;^o

I will look to see what he will say^p to me,

and what answer I am to give to this complaint.^aq

The Lord’s Answer

²Then the Lord replied:

“Write^r down the revelation

and make it plain on tablets

so that a herald^b may run with it.

³For the revelation awaits an appointed time;^s

it speaks of the end^t

and will not prove false.

Though it linger, wait^u for it;

it^c will certainly come

and will not delay.^v

⁴“See, the enemy is puffed up;

his desires are not upright—

but the righteous person^w will live by his faithfulness^dx—

⁵indeed, wine^y betrays him;

he is arrogant^z and never at rest.

Because he is as greedy as the grave

and like death is never satisfied,^a

he gathers to himself all the nations

and takes captive^b all the peoples.

⁶“Will not all of them taunt^c him with ridicule and scorn, saying,

“ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods

and makes himself wealthy by extortion!^d

How long must this go on?’

⁷Will not your creditors suddenly arise?

Will they not wake up and make you tremble?

Then you will become their prey.^e

⁸Because you have plundered many nations,

the peoples who are left will plunder you.^f

For you have shed human blood;^g

you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.^h

⁹“Woe to him who buildsⁱ his house by unjust gain,^j

setting his nest^k on high

to escape the clutches of ruin!

¹⁰You have plotted the ruin^l of many peoples,

shaming^m your own house and forfeiting your life.

¹¹The stonesⁿ of the wall will cry out,

and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.

¹²“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed^o

and establishes a town by injustice!

¹³Has not the Lord Almighty determined

that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,^p

that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?^q

¹⁴For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory^r of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.^s

¹⁵“Woe to him who gives drink^t to his neighbors,

pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,

so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!

¹⁶You will be filled with shame^u instead of glory.^v

Now it is your turn! Drink^w and let your nakedness be exposed^e!^x

The cup^y from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,

and disgrace will cover your glory.

¹⁷The violence^z you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,

and your destruction of animals will terrify you.^a

For you have shed human blood;^b

you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

¹⁸“Of what value^c is an idol^d carved by a craftsman?

Or an image^e that teaches lies?

For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;

he makes idols that cannot speak.^f

¹⁹Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’

Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’^g

Can it give guidance?

It is covered with gold and silver;^h

there is no breath in it.”ⁱ

²⁰The Lord is in his holy temple;^j

let all the earth be silent^k before him.