Habakkuk 1
1 THE BURDEN which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
The burden which the prophet Ambacum saw.
2 How long, O LORD, shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save.
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?
3 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.
Therefore have you shown me troubles and griefs to look upon, misery and ungodliness? judgment is before me, and the judge receives a reward.
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and right doth never go forth; for the wicked doth beset the righteous; therefore right goeth forth perverted.
Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgment proceeds not effectually, for the ungodly [man] prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgment will proceed.
5 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.
Behold, you despisers, and look, and wonder marvelously, and vanish: for I work a work in your days, which you will in no wise believe, though a man declare [it to you].
6 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.
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.
7 They are terrible and dreadful; their law and their majesty proceed from themselves.
He is terrible and famous; his judgment shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of himself.
8 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.
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.
9 They come all of them for violence; their faces are set eagerly as the east wind; and they gather captives as the sand.
Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand.
10 And they scoff at kings, and princes are a derision unto them; they deride every stronghold, for they heap up earth, and take it.
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.
11 Then their spirit doth pass over and transgress, and they become guilty: even they who impute their might unto their god.
Then shall he change his spirit, and he shall pass through, and make an atonement, [saying], This strength [belongs] to my god.
12 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.
[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 judgment, and he has formed me to chasten [with] his correction.
13 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;
[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?
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
And will you make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the reptiles which have no guide?
15 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.
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.
16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and offer unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their food plenteous.
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.
17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?
Therefore will he cast his net, and will not spare to kill the nations continually.
