Habakkuk 1

1 THE BURDEN which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

The burden that Habakkuk the prophet 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 heed? Shall I shout to you while suffering violence, 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.

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.

4 Therefore the law is slacked, and right doth never go forth; for the wicked doth beset the righteous; therefore right goeth forth perverted.

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.

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.

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.

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, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift people, marching across the width of the earth, to possess tabernacles not their own.

7 They are terrible and dreadful; their law and their majesty proceed from themselves.

It is dreadful and terrible. From themselves, judgment and their burden will issue.

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.

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.

9 They come all of them for violence; their faces are set eagerly as the east wind; and they gather captives as the sand.

They will all approach towards the prey; their face is like a burning wind. And they will gather captives together like 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 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.

11 Then their spirit doth pass over and transgress, and they become guilty: even they who impute their might unto their god.

Then his spirit will be altered, and he will cross over and fall. Such is his strength from 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.

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.

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;

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?

14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

And you will make men like the fish of the sea and like the creeping things that have no ruler.

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 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.

16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and offer unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their food plenteous.

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.

17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?

Because of this, therefore, he expands his dragnet and will not be lenient in continually putting to death the peoples.