Habakkuk 1
1 THE BURDEN which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision:
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 Yahweh, have I called out, and thou wouldst not hear me? Have I kept crying unto thee of violence, and thou wouldst 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.
Wherefore shouldst thou let me see iniquity, and, wrong, shouldst let me behold, and, force and violence, be straight before me, —and there should have ever been someone who, contention and strife, would uphold?
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and right doth never go forth; for the wicked doth beset the righteous; therefore right goeth forth perverted.
For which cause, benumbed is the law, and there is never any going forth of justice, —for, the lawless, doth circumvent the righteous, for which cause, justice doth go forth perverted?
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 ye, among the nations, and look around, Yea stand stock still—stare, —for, a work, is being wrought in your days, ye will not believe, when it is recounted.
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.
For, behold me! raising up the Chaldeans, the bitter and headlong nation, —that marcheth to the breadths of the earth, to take possession of habitations, not his.
7 They are terrible and dreadful; their law and their majesty proceed from themselves.
Awful and fearful, is he, —from himself, his decision and his uprising, proceed.
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.
Then, swifter than leopards, are his horses, and, more sharply they attack, than evening wolves, and forward have leapt his chargers, —Yea, his chargers, from afar, will come in, they will fly as an eagle hath hastened to devour.
9 They come all of them for violence; their faces are set eagerly as the east wind; and they gather captives as the sand.
Solely for violence, will he come, the intent of their faces, is—To the east! And he hath gathered, as the sand, a captive host;
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, over kings, will make merry, and, nobles, will be a scorn to him: he, at any fortress, will laugh, once he hath heaped up dust, he hath captured it!
11 Then their spirit doth pass over and transgress, and they become guilty: even they who impute their might unto their god.
Then, hath he become arrogant in spirit, and hath committed excess, and so is guilty, —this his violence, is due to his 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.
Art not, thou, from of old, O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One? Thou diest not! O Yahweh, to judgment, hast thou appointed him, and, O Rock, to correction, hast thou devoted him:
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;
[Thou] whose eyes are too pure to look with approval on wrong, to respect oppression, canst not endure, —Wherefore, shouldst thou respect the treacherous? Be silent, when the lawless, swalloweth up, one more righteous than he?
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
So wouldst thou have made Men, like the fishes of the sea, —like the creeping thing that hath no ruler over it:
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.
All of which, with a hook, one bringeth up, raketh together with his drag, and hath gathered with his net, —
16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and offer unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their food plenteous.
On which account, he is glad and exulteth: on which account, he sacrificeth to his Net, and burneth incense to his Drag; because, thereby, rich, is his portion, and his food—fatness!
17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?
Shall he, on this account, empty his net? And, the continual slaying of nations, deem to be no pity?
