Ambacum 1
1 The burden which the prophet Ambacum saw.
The message seen by the prophet Habakkuk.
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?
How long, Lord, have I cried out and without you hearing me! I cry to you, “Violence!” but you do not help.
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 make me look upon wickedness and behold trouble? Destruction and violence are before my eyes, and fighting and quarrelling.
4 Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgment proceeds not effectually, for the ungodly [man] prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgment will proceed.
Therefore the law is weak, and justice is never rendered; for the wicked surround the righteous, so that 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 at the nations, look well, be shocked and amazed. For I am about to do a work in your days; you will not believe it when it is 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.
For I am about to raise up the Chaldeans, a nation grim and quick of action who sweep over the whole breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
7 He is terrible and famous; his judgment shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of himself.
They bring fear and terror. They write 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 swifter than leopards, quicker than wolves hunting at dusk. From afar they come swooping down, like an eagle attacking its prey.
9 Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand.
They all come to do violence, a horde like a desert wind, they gather up captives 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.
At kings they scoff, and princes are sport to them. They laugh at every fortress, and heap up earth to take it.
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 like the wind, Their 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.
Are you not eternal, Lord, my holy one, who does not die? Lord you have appointed them to execute judgment, my rock, you have established them to punish.
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 at evil, you cannot condone iniquity. So why do you regard the treacherous in silence, while the wicked swallows the upright?
14 And wilt thou make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the reptiles which have no guide?
You have made people like the fish of the sea, like reptiles 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.
The wicked sweep them all into their nets, and gather them into their drag-nets, and rejoice and 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.
Therefore they sacrifice to their net, and burn offerings to their drag-net; for by their nets are their portions generous, and their food is rich.
17 Therefore will he cast his net, and will not spare to slay the nations continually.
Will they empty their nets continually, slaughter nations unpityingly?
