1 The pronouncementa that the prophet Habakkuk saw.b

HABAKKUK’S FIRST PRAYER

2 How long,c Lord, must I call for helpd

and you do not listen

or cry out to you about violencee

and you do not save?

3 Why do you force me to look at injustice?f

Why do you tolerate* wrongdoing?

Oppression and violence are right in front of me.

Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

4 This is why the law is ineffective

and justice never emerges.

For the wicked restrictg the righteous;

therefore, justiceh comes out perverted.

GOD’S FIRST ANSWER

5 Look at the nationsB,i and observej—

be utterly astounded!k

For I am doing something in your days

that you will not believel

when you hear about it.m

6 Look! I am raising upn the Chaldeans,C

that bitter,o impetuous nation

that marches across the earth’s open spaces

to seize territories not its own.

7 They are fiercep and terrifying;

their views of justice and sovereignty

stem from themselves.

8 Their horses are swifterq than leopardsr

and more fierceD than wolves of the night.

Their horsemen charge ahead;

their horsemen come from distant lands.

They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.s

9 All of them come to do violence;

their facest are set in determination.E

They gatheru prisoners like sand.v

10 They mockw kings,

and rulers are a joke to them.

They laughx at every fortress

and build siege ramps to capturey it.

11 Then they sweepz by like the wind

and pass through.

They are guilty;F their strength is their god.

HABAKKUK’S SECOND PRAYER

12 Are you not from eternity, Lord my God?aa

My Holy One,ab youG will not die.

Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment;

my Rock,ac you destined them to punish us.

13 Your eyesad are too pureae to look on evil,

and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous?af

Why are you silent

while oneH who is wicked swallows up

oneI who is more righteous than himself?

14 You have made mankind

like the fish of the sea,ag

like marine creatures that have no ruler.

15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,

catch them in their dragnet,ah

and gather them in their fishing net;

that is why they are glad and rejoice.

16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet

and burn incense to their fishing net,

for by these things their portion is rich

and their food plentiful.ai

17 Will they therefore empty their net and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

HABAKKUK WAITS FOR GOD’S RESPONSE

2 I will stand at my guard post

and station myself on the lookout tower.a

I will watch to see what he will say to meb

and what I shouldA reply about my complaint.

GOD’S SECOND ANSWER

2 The Lord answered me:

Write down this vision;c

clearly inscribe it on tablets

so one may easily read it.B

3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time;d

it testifies about the end and will not lie.

Though it delays, wait for it,

since it will certainly come and not be late.e

4 Look, his ego is inflated;C

he is without integrity.

But the righteous one will live by his faith.D,f

5 Moreover, wineE betrays;

an arrogant man is never at rest.F

He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,

and like Death he is never satisfied.g

He gathers all the nations to himself;h

he collects all the peoples for himself.

THE FIVE WOE ORACLES

6 Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,i

with mockery and riddles about him?

They will say:

Woe to him who amasses what is not his—

how much longer?—j

and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.”k

7 Won’t your creditors suddenly arise,

and those who disturb you wake up?

Then you will become spoil for them.l

8 Since you have plundered many nations,m

all the peoples who remain will plunder youn—

because of human bloodshed

and violenceo against lands, cities,

and all who live in them.p

9 Woe to him who dishonestly makes

wealth for his houseG,q

to place his nest on high,

to escape the grasp of disaster!r

10 You have planned shame for your house

by wiping out many peoples

and sinning against your own self.

11 For the stones will cry outs from the wall,

and the rafters will answer them

from the woodwork.

12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed

and founds a town with injustice!t

13 Is it not from the Lord of Armies

that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire

and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?u

14 For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,

as the water covers the sea.v

15 Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,

pouring out your wrathH

and even making them drunk,

in order to look at their nakedness!

16 You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.

You also—drink,

and expose your uncircumcision!I

The cup in the Lord’s right hand

will come around to you,

and utter disgrace will cover your glory.w

17 For your violence against Lebanon

will overwhelm you;

the destruction of animals will terrify youJ

because of your human bloodshed and violence

against lands, cities, and all who live in them.

18 What use is a carved idol

after its craftsman carves it?

It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.

For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it

and makes worthless idols that cannot speak.

19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!

or to mute stone: Come alive!

Can it teach?

Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,

yet there is no breatha in it at all.

20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;b

let the whole earth

be silent in his presence.c