Habakkuk 1

1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

The prophecy which Habakkuk the prophet foresaw.

2 O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou will not hear? I cry out to thee of violence, and thou will not save.

How long, O Lord, have I entreated [thee], and thou wouldst not hear? [how long] shall I cry out unto thee [because of] violence, and thou wilt not save?

3 Why do thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? For destruction and violence are before me, and there is strife, and contention rises up.

Why wilt thou let me see wickedness, and wilt look on trouble, and the robbery and violence [that are] before me: while there is strife, and contention lifteth up [its head]?

4 Therefore the law is slacked, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked man surrounds the righteous man, therefore justice goes forth perverted.

Therefore is the law powerless, and justice cometh not forth victorious; for the wicked encompasseth about the righteous; therefore doth justice come forth perverted.

5 Behold ye scoffers, and look, and wonder marvelously. For I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.

Look ye about among the nations, and behold and be astonished and astounded; for [God] will fulfill a work in your days, ye would not believe it, if it were only told you.

6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.

For, lo, I will raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, that march to the wide spaces of the earth to conquer dwelling-places that are not theirs.

7 They are fearful and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

Terrible and dreadful are they: from themselves go forth their judicial laws and their dignity.

8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. And their horsemen press proudly on. Yea, their horsemen come from far. They fly as an eagle that hastens to devour.

And swifter than leopards are their horses, and fiercer than the evening wolves; and their horsemen spread themselves abroad: and their horsemen will come from afar; they will fly like the eagle hastening to eat.

9 They come all of them for violence. The set of their faces is forwards, and they gather captives as the sand.

They all will come for violence: the front of their faces is like the east wind, and they gather captives as the sand.

10 Yea, he scoffs at kings, and rulers are a derision to him. He derides every stronghold, for he heaps up dust, and takes it.

And they will make sport with kings, and princes will be a play unto them: at every strong-hold will they laugh, and they will cast up earth-mounds and capture it.

11 Then he shall sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over, and be guilty; he whose might is his god.

Then doth their spirit become arrogant, and they are surpassingly proud, and offend, [imputing] this their power unto their god.

12 Are not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Jehovah, thou have ordained him for judgment, and thou, O Rock, have established him for correction.

Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O Protector, thou hast appointed them to correct [nations].

13 Thou who are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and who cannot look on perverseness, why do thou look upon those who deal treacherously, and hold thy peace when the wicked man swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,

Thou, who art too pure of eyes to behold evil, and canst not look on trouble, wherefore wilt thou look upon those that deal treacherously, be silent when the wicked swalloweth up him that is more righteous than he?

14 and makes men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

And [why] makest thou men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

15 He takes all of them up with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his drag. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.

All of them he bringeth up with the angle, he draggeth them up in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad.

16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his drag, because by them his portion is fat, and his food plentiful.

Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because through them is his portion fat, and his food marrowy.

17 Shall he therefore empty his net, and not spare to kill the nations continually?

Shall he therefore [always] empty his net, and continually slay nations without sparing?