< Ambacum 1 >
1 The burden which the prophet Ambacum saw.
The burden that Habakkuk the prophet hath seen:
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?
Till when, O Jehovah, have I cried, And Thou dost not hear? I cry unto Thee — 'Violence,' and Thou dost 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.
Why dost Thou shew me iniquity, And perversity dost cause to behold? And spoiling and violence [are] before me, And there is strife, and contention doth lift [itself] up,
4 Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgment proceeds not effectually, for the ungodly [man] prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgment will proceed.
Therefore doth law cease, And judgment doth not go forth for ever, For the wicked is compassing the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment goeth forth.
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].
Look ye on nations, and behold and marvel greatly. For a work He is working in your days, Ye do not believe though it is declared.
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, lo, I am raising up the Chaldeans, The bitter and hasty nation, That is going to the broad places of earth, To occupy tabernacles not its own.
7 He is terrible and famous; his judgment shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of himself.
Terrible and fearful it [is], From itself its judgment and its excellency go forth.
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.
Swifter than leopards have been its horses, And sharper than evening wolves, And increased have its horsemen, Even its horsemen from afar come in, They fly as an eagle, hasting to consume.
9 Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand.
Wholly for violence it doth come in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And it doth gather as the sand a captivity.
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 at kings it doth scoff, And princes [are] a laughter to it, At every fenced place it doth laugh, And it heapeth up dust, and captureth 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 passed on hath the spirit, Yea, he doth transgress, And doth ascribe this his power 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 of old, O Jehovah, my God, my Holy One? We do not die, O Jehovah, For judgment Thou hast appointed it, And, O Rock, for reproof Thou hast founded it.
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?
Purer of eyes than to behold evil, To look on perverseness Thou art not able, Why dost Thou behold the treacherous? Thou keepest silent when the wicked Doth swallow the more righteous than he,
14 And will you make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the reptiles which have no guide?
And Thou makest man as fishes of the sea, As a creeping thing — none ruling over him.
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.
Each of them with a hook he hath brought up, He doth catch it in his net, and gathereth it in his drag, Therefore he doth joy and rejoice.
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.
Therefore he doth sacrifice to his net, And doth make perfume to his drag, For by them [is] his portion fertile, and his food fat.
17 Therefore will he cast his net, and will not spare to kill the nations continually.
Doth he therefore empty his net, And continually to slay nations spare not?