Ambacum 1
1 The burden which the prophet Ambacum saw.
THE BURDEN which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
2 How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will not listen? [how long] shall I cry out to you being injured, and you will not save?
How long, O LORD, shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save.
3 Therefore have you shown me troubles and griefs to look upon, misery and ungodliness? judgement is before me, and the judge receives a reward.
Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and beholdest mischief? And why are spoiling and violence before me? so that there is strife, and contention ariseth.
4 Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgement proceeds not effectually, for the ungodly [man] prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgement will proceed.
Therefore the law is slacked, and right doth never go forth; for the wicked doth beset the righteous; therefore right goeth forth perverted.
5 Behold, you despisers, and look, and wonder marvellously, and vanish: for I work a work in your days, which you will in no wise believe, though a man declare [it to you].
Look ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for, behold, a work shall be wrought in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.
6 Therefore, 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, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.
7 He is terrible and famous; his judgement shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of himself.
They are terrible and dreadful; their law and their majesty proceed from themselves.
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 also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the wolves of the desert; and their horsemen spread themselves; yea, their horsemen come from far, they fly as a vulture that hasteth to devour.
9 Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand.
They come all of them for violence; their faces are set eagerly as the east wind; and they gather captives as the 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.
And they scoff at kings, and princes are a derision unto them; they deride every stronghold, for they heap up earth, and 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 their spirit doth pass over and transgress, and they become guilty: even they who impute their might unto their god.
12 [Are] not you from the beginning, O Lord God, my Holy One? and surely we shall not die. O Lord, you have established it for judgement, and he has formed me to chasten [with] his correction.
Art not Thou from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, Thou hast ordained them for judgment, and Thou, O Rock, hast established them for correction.
13 [His] eye is too pure to behold evil [doings], and to look upon grievous afflictions: therefore do you look upon despisers? will you be silent when the ungodly swallows up the just?
Thou that art of eyes too pure to behold evil, and that canst not look on mischief, wherefore lookest Thou, when they deal treacherously, and holdest Thy peace, when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he;
14 And will you make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the reptiles which have no guide?
And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
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 take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag; therefore they rejoice and exult.
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 unto their net, and offer unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their food plenteous.
17 Therefore will he cast his net, and will not spare to kill the nations continually.
Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?
