Habakkuk 1
1 This is the burden that Habakkuk the prophet received in a vision:
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
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?
Jehovah, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee, Violence! and thou dost not save.
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.
Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest thou upon grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
Therefore the law is powerless, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked encompasseth the righteous; therefore judgment goeth forth perverted.
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.
See ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for [I] work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be declared [to you].
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.
For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, which marcheth through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.
7 They are dreaded and feared; from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.
They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
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.
And their horses are swifter than the leopards, and are more agile than the evening wolves; and their horsemen prance proudly, and their horsemen come from afar: they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.
9 All of them come bent on violence; their hordes advance like the east wind; they gather prisoners like sand.
They come all of them for violence: the crowd of their faces is forwards, and they gather captives as the 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.
Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a scorn unto him; he derideth every stronghold: for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and pass on through. They are guilty; their own strength is their god.”
Then will his mind change, and he will pass on, and become guilty: this his power is become his 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.
— Art thou not from everlasting, Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast appointed him for correction.
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?
[Thou art] of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on mischief: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, [and] keepest silence when the wicked swalloweth up a [man] more righteous than he?
14 You have made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler.
And thou makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them.
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.
He taketh up all of them with the hook, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them into his drag; therefore he rejoiceth and is glad:
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.
therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; for by them his portion is become fat, and his meat dainty.
17 Will he, therefore, empty his net and continue to slay nations without mercy?
Shall he therefore empty his net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?
