Habakkuk 1:12–2:12

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!