Habakkuk 1

1 THE BURDEN which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

The burden that Habakkuk the prophet has seen:

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.

Until when, O YHWH, have I cried, And You do not hear? I cry to You, “Violence!” And You do 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 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 Therefore the law is slacked, and right doth never go forth; for the wicked doth beset the righteous; therefore right goeth forth perverted.

Therefore law ceases, And judgment does not go forth forever, For the wicked is surrounding the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment goes forth.

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.

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

He [is] terrible and fearful, His judgment and his excellence go forth from him.

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.

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

All for violence—he comes in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And he gathers a 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 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 their spirit doth pass over and transgress, and they become guilty: even they who impute their might unto their god.

Then the spirit has passed on, Indeed, he transgresses, And [ascribes] this—his power—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.

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 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;

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

And You make man as fishes of the sea, As a creeping thing [with] none ruling over him.

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 each of them with a hook, He catches it in his net, and gathers it in his dragnet, Therefore he delights and rejoices.

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

Therefore he sacrifices to his net, And makes incense to his dragnet, For by them [is] his portion fertile, and his food fat.

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

Does he therefore empty his net, And continually not spare to slay nations?