Habakkuk 1
1 The burden, which Habakkuk the Prophet did see.
[I am] Habakkuk, a prophet. This is the [message that Yahweh] gave to me in a vision.
2 O Lord, howe long shall I crye, and thou wilt not heare! euen crye out vnto thee for violence, and thou wilt not helpe!
[I said, ] “Yahweh, how long must I continue to call [to you] for help before you respond? I cry out to you [for help], saying that [people are acting] violently [everywhere], but you do not rescue us!
3 Why doest thou shewe mee iniquitie, and cause me to beholde sorowe? for spoyling, and violence are before me: and there are that rayse vp strife and contention.
(Must I/I do not want to) continue seeing people doing what is unjust [RHQ]. Why do you not punish people who are doing what is wrong [RHQ]? I see people destroying things and [acting] violently. There is fighting and quarreling [everywhere].
4 Therefore the Lawe is dissolued, and iudgement doeth neuer go forth: for the wicked doeth compasse about the righteous: therefore wrong iudgement proceedeth.
No one obeys laws [PRS], and judges [PRS] never do what is fair/just. Wicked people always defeat righteous people [in the courts], with the result that matters are never decided fairly/justly.”
5 Beholde among the heathen, and regarde, and wonder, and maruaile: for I will worke a worke in your dayes: yee will not beleeue it, though it be tolde you.
[Yahweh replied to me, ] “[I know that what you say is true, but] look around at [what is happening in] the other nations; [if you look, ] you will be amazed, because I am doing something during this time that you would not believe [would happen], even if someone told you about it.
6 For lo, I raise vp the Caldeans, that bitter and furious nation, which shall goe vpon the breadth of the lande to possesse the dwelling places, that are not theirs.
The soldiers of Babylonia are fierce/cruel and swift. And now I am causing them [to become very powerful]; they will march across the world and conquer [many] other countries.
7 They are terrible and fearefull: their iudgement and their dignitie shall proceede of theselues.
They are people whom [others] fear very much [DOU], and they do whatever they want to, paying no attention to the laws of other countries.
8 Their horses also are swifter then the leopards, and are more fierce then the wolues in the euening: and their horsemen are many: and their horsemen shall come from farre: they shall flie as the eagle hasting to meate.
The horses [that pull their chariots] go faster than leopards, and they are fiercer than wolves are in the evening. The horses on which the soldiers ride gallop swiftly; the soldiers riding them come from distant places. They are like [SIM] eagles that swoop down to [snatch and] kill small animals.
9 They come all to spoyle: before their faces shalbe an Eastwinde, and they shall gather the captiuitie, as the sand.
As they ride along, [they are] determined to act violently. They advance like [SIM] a wind from the desert, gathering prisoners that are as [numerous as grains of] sand.
10 And they shall mocke the Kings, and the princes shalbe a skorne vnto them: they shall deride euery strong holde: for they shall gather dust, and take it.
They make fun of kings and princes [of other countries], and they ridicule all the cities that have high walls around them. They pile dirt [outside those walls] [in order to climb up] and capture those cities.
11 Then shall they take a courage, and transgresse and doe wickedly, imputing this their power vnto their god.
They rush past like the wind, and then they go [to attack other cities]. But they are very guilty, because [they think that] their own power is their god.”
12 Art thou not of olde, O Lord my God, mine holy one? we shall not die: O Lord, thou hast ordeined them for iudgement, and O God, thou hast established them for correction.
[Then I said, ] “Yahweh, you have certainly [RHQ] always/forever been God. You are my Holy One; you will not die. So [why] have you appointed those men [from Babylonia] to judge and get rid of [us]? You are like [MET] a huge rock [under which we are protected/safe], so why have you sent them to punish us?
13 Thou art of pure eyes, and canst not see euill: thou canst not behold wickednesse: wherefore doest thou looke vpon the transgressors, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked deuoureth the man, that is more righteous then he?
You [SYN] are pure, and you cannot endure looking at what is evil, [so why] are you ignoring men who are treacherous? Why do you do nothing [to punish] those wicked men [from Babylonia] who destroy people who are more righteous than they [are]?
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things, that haue no ruler ouer them.
[Do you consider that] we are like fish in the sea, or like other creatures in the sea, that have no ruler?
15 They take vp all with the angle: they catch it in their net, and gather it in their yarne, whereof they reioyce and are glad.
[The soldiers of Babylonia think that we are fish] [RHQ] for them to pull out of the sea with hooks or to catch in their nets, while they rejoice and celebrate.
16 Therefore they sacrifice vnto their net, and burne incense vnto their yarne, because by them their portion is fat and their meat plenteous.
If they catch us, they will [worship] their weapons [MET] with which they captured us, and offer sacrifices to them and burn incense in front of them! [They will say] ‘Those weapons have enabled us to become rich and be able to eat expensive food.’
17 Shall they therefore stretch out their net and not spare continually to slay the nations?
[Will you allow] them to continue [to conquer people] [MET] forever? [Will you allow] them to destroy people of other nations without their being merciful [to anyone]?”
