Ambacum 1

1 The burden which the prophet Ambacum saw.

The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision:

2 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?

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 Therefore have you shown me troubles and griefs to look upon, misery and ungodliness? judgment is before me, and the judge receives a reward.

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 frustrated, and judgment proceeds not effectually, for the ungodly [man] prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgment will proceed.

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 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].

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 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.

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 He is terrible and famous; his judgment shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of himself.

Awful and fearful, is he, —from himself, his decision and his uprising, proceed.

8 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.

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 Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity 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 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.

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 shall he change his spirit, and he shall pass through, and make an atonement, [saying], This strength [belongs] to my 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 [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.

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 [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?

[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 will you make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the reptiles which have no guide?

So wouldst thou have made Men, like the fishes of the sea, —like the creeping thing that hath no ruler over it:

15 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.

All of which, with a hook, one bringeth up, raketh together with his drag, and hath gathered with his net, —

16 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.

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 Therefore will he cast his net, and will not spare to kill the nations continually.

Shall he, on this account, empty his net? And, the continual slaying of nations, deem to be no pity?