Habakkuk 1
1 This is the burden that Habakkuk the prophet received in a vision:
[I am] Habakkuk, a prophet. This is the [message that Yahweh] gave to me in a vision.
2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?
[I said, ] “Yahweh, how long must I continue to call [to you] for help before you respond? I cry out to you [for help], saying that [people are acting] violently [everywhere], but you do not rescue us!
3 Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
(Must I/I do not want to) continue seeing people doing what is unjust [RHQ]. Why do you not punish people who are doing what is wrong [RHQ]? I see people destroying things and [acting] violently. There is fighting and quarreling [everywhere].
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
No one obeys laws [PRS], and judges [PRS] never do what is fair/just. Wicked people always defeat righteous people [in the courts], with the result that matters are never decided fairly/justly.”
5 “Look at the nations and observe— be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.
[Yahweh replied to me, ] “[I know that what you say is true, but] look around at [what is happening in] the other nations; [if you look, ] you will be amazed, because I am doing something during this time that you would not believe [would happen], even if someone told you about it.
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans — that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
The soldiers of Babylonia are fierce/cruel and swift. And now I am causing them [to become very powerful]; they will march across the world and conquer [many] other countries.
7 They are dreaded and feared; from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.
They are people whom [others] fear very much [DOU], and they do whatever they want to, paying no attention to the laws of other countries.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.
The horses [that pull their chariots] go faster than leopards, and they are fiercer than wolves are in the evening. The horses on which the soldiers ride gallop swiftly; the soldiers riding them come from distant places. They are like [SIM] eagles that swoop down to [snatch and] kill small animals.
9 All of them come bent on violence; their hordes advance like the east wind; they gather prisoners like sand.
As they ride along, [they are] determined to act violently. They advance like [SIM] a wind from the desert, gathering prisoners that are as [numerous as grains of] sand.
10 They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.
They make fun of kings and princes [of other countries], and they ridicule all the cities that have high walls around them. They pile dirt [outside those walls] [in order to climb up] and capture those cities.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and pass on through. They are guilty; their own strength is their god.”
They rush past like the wind, and then they go [to attack other cities]. But they are very guilty, because [they think that] their own power is their god.”
12 Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O LORD, You have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, You have established them for correction.
[Then I said, ] “Yahweh, you have certainly [RHQ] always/forever been God. You are my Holy One; you will not die. So [why] have you appointed those men [from Babylonia] to judge and get rid of [us]? You are like [MET] a huge rock [under which we are protected/safe], so why have you sent them to punish us?
13 Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
You [SYN] are pure, and you cannot endure looking at what is evil, [so why] are you ignoring men who are treacherous? Why do you do nothing [to punish] those wicked men [from Babylonia] who destroy people who are more righteous than they [are]?
14 You have made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler.
[Do you consider that] we are like fish in the sea, or like other creatures in the sea, that have no ruler?
15 The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly.
[The soldiers of Babylonia think that we are fish] [RHQ] for them to pull out of the sea with hooks or to catch in their nets, while they rejoice and celebrate.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.
If they catch us, they will [worship] their weapons [MET] with which they captured us, and offer sacrifices to them and burn incense in front of them! [They will say] ‘Those weapons have enabled us to become rich and be able to eat expensive food.’
17 Will he, therefore, empty his net and continue to slay nations without mercy?
[Will you allow] them to continue [to conquer people] [MET] forever? [Will you allow] them to destroy people of other nations without their being merciful [to anyone]?”
