Habakkuk 1

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