Ambacum 1
1 The burden which the prophet Ambacum saw.
This is the message that Habakkuk saw in vision.
2 How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and thou wilt not hearken? [how long] shall I cry out to thee being injured, and thou wilt not save?
Lord, how long do I have to cry out for help and you don't listen? I cry out, “Violence!” but you don't save us from it.
3 Wherefore hast thou shown me troubles and griefs to look upon, misery and ungodliness? judgment is before me, and the judge receives a reward.
Why do you force me to see this wickedness and suffering? Why do you just observe such destruction and violence? Arguments and fighting happen right in front of me!
4 Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgment proceeds not effectually, for the ungodly [man] prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgment will proceed.
As a result the law is paralyzed, and justice never wins. The wicked crowd out those who do right so that the course of justice is perverted.
5 Behold, ye despisers, and look, and wonder marvelously, and vanish: for I work a work in your days, which ye will in no wise believe, though a man declare [it to you].
Look around at the nations, watch and be surprised and amazed. Something is going to happen in your time that you wouldn't believe even if you were told.
6 Wherefore, behold, I stir up the Chaldeans, the bitter and hasty nation, that walks upon the breadth of the earth, to inherit tabernacles not his own.
Watch! I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and brutal people who will march across the world to seize other lands.
7 He is terrible and famous; his judgment shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of himself.
They are fearsome and terrifying, and so proud of themselves that they set their own rules.
8 And his horses shall bound [more swiftly] than leopards, and [they are] fiercer than the wolves of Arabia: and his horsemen shall ride forth, and shall rush from far; and they shall fly as an eagle hasting to eat.
Their horses are faster than leopards and fiercer than hungry wolves. Their cavalry charges, racing in from far away. Like eagles, they swoop down to eat their prey.
9 Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand.
Here they come, all intent on violence. Their armies advance in frontal assault as rapidly as the desert wind, capturing so many prisoners they are like sand.
10 And he shall be at his ease with kings, and princes are his toys, and he shall mock at every strong-hold, and shall cast a mound, and take possession of it.
They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh in scorn at fortresses—they pile up earth ramps and capture them.
11 Then shall he change his spirit, and he shall pass through, and make an atonement, [saying], This strength [belongs] to my god.
Then they sweep on by like the wind and are gone. They are guilty because their own strength is their god.
12 [Art] not thou from the beginning, O Lord God, my Holy One? and surely we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast established it for judgment, and he has formed me to chasten [with] his correction.
Haven't you existed from eternity past? You are Lord my God, my Holy One, you do not die. Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment; God our Rock, you sent them to punish us.
13 [His] eye is too pure to behold evil [doings], and to look upon grievous afflictions: wherefore dost thou look upon despisers? wilt thou be silent when the ungodly swallows up the just?
Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil; you cannot stand the sight of wrong. So why do you put up with untrustworthy people? Why are you silent when the wicked destroy those who do less evil than they do?
14 And wilt thou make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the reptiles which have no guide?
You make people become like fish in the sea, or like crawling insects, that have no ruler.
15 He has brought up destruction with a hook, and drawn one with a casting net, and caught another in his drags: therefore shall his heart rejoice and be glad.
They drag everyone up with hooks, they pull them out with nets, catching them in dragnets. Then they happily celebrate.
16 Therefore will he sacrifice to his drag, and burn incense to his casting-net, because by them he has made his portion fat, and his meats choice.
They worship their nets as if they were gods, making sacrifices and burning incense to them, because by their nets they live in luxury, eating rich food.
17 Therefore will he cast his net, and will not spare to slay the nations continually.
Will they keep on unsheathing their swords forever, killing nations without mercy?
