Habakkuk 1
1 The burden that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
The burden that Habakkuk the prophet has seen:
2 How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will not heed? Shall I shout to you while suffering violence, and you will not save?
Until when, O YHWH, have I cried, And You do not hear? I cry to You, “Violence!” And You do not save.
3 Why have you revealed to me iniquity and hardship, to see plunder and injustice opposite me? And there has been judgment, but the opposition is more powerful.
Why do You show me iniquity, And cause [me] to behold perversity? And spoiling and violence [are] before me, And there is strife, and contention lifts [itself] up,
4 Because of this, the law has been torn apart, and judgment does not persevere to its conclusion. For the impious prevail against the just. Because of this, a perverse judgment is issued.
Therefore law ceases, And judgment does not go forth forever, For the wicked is surrounding the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment goes forth.
5 Gaze among the nations, and see. Admire, and be astounded. For a work has been done in your days, which no one will believe when it is told.
“Look on nations, and behold and marvel greatly. For a work He is working in your days, You do not believe though it is declared.
6 For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift people, marching across the width of the earth, to possess tabernacles not their own.
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, The bitter and hasty nation, That is going to the broad places of earth, To occupy dwelling places not his own.
7 It is dreadful and terrible. From themselves, judgment and their burden will issue.
He [is] terrible and fearful, His judgment and his excellence go forth from him.
8 Their horses are more nimble than leopards and swifter than wolves in the evening; their horsemen will spread out. And then their horsemen will approach from far away; they will fly like the eagle, hurrying to devour.
His horses have been swifter than leopards, And sharper than evening wolves, And his horsemen have increased, Even his horsemen from afar come in, They fly as an eagle, hastening to consume.
9 They will all approach towards the prey; their face is like a burning wind. And they will gather captives together like sand.
All for violence—he comes in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And he gathers a captivity as the sand.
10 And concerning kings, he will triumph, and sovereign rulers will be his laughingstock, and he will laugh over every fortress, and he will transport a rampart and seize it.
And he scoffs at kings, And princes [are] a laughter to him, He laughs at every fortification, And he heaps up dust, and captures it.
11 Then his spirit will be altered, and he will cross over and fall. Such is his strength from his god.
Then the spirit has passed on, Indeed, he transgresses, And [ascribes] this—his power—to his god.”
12 Have you not existed from the beginning, Lord my God, my holy one, and so we shall not die? Lord, you have stationed him for judgment, and you have established that his strength will be swept away.
Are You not of old, O YHWH, my God, my Holy One? We do not die, O YHWH, You have appointed him for judgment, And, O Rock, You have founded him for reproof.
13 Your eyes are pure, you do not behold evil, and you cannot look towards iniquity. Why do you look upon the agents of iniquity, and remain silent, while the impious is devouring one who is more just than himself?
Purer of eyes than to behold evil, You are not able to look on perverseness, Why do You behold the treacherous? You keep silent when the wicked Swallow the more righteous than he,
14 And you will make men like the fish of the sea and like the creeping things that have no ruler.
And You make man as fishes of the sea, As a creeping thing [with] none ruling over him.
15 He lifted up everything with his hook. He drew them in with his dragnet, and gathered them into his netting. Over this, he will rejoice and exult.
He has brought up each of them with a hook, He catches it in his net, and gathers it in his dragnet, Therefore he delights and rejoices.
16 For this reason, he will offer victims to his dragnet, and he will sacrifice to his netting. For through them, his portion has been made fat, and his meals elite.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net, And makes incense to his dragnet, For by them [is] his portion fertile, and his food fat.
17 Because of this, therefore, he expands his dragnet and will not be lenient in continually putting to death the peoples.
Does he therefore empty his net, And continually not spare to slay nations?
