Habakkuk 1

1 The prophecy which Habakkuk the prophet foresaw.

The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

2 How long, O Lord, have I entreated [thee], and thou wouldst not hear? [how long] shall I cry out unto thee [because of] violence, and thou wilt not save?

Jehovah, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee, Violence! and thou dost not save.

3 Why wilt thou let me see wickedness, and wilt look on trouble, and the robbery and violence [that are] before me: while there is strife, and contention lifteth up [its head]?

Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest thou upon grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.

4 Therefore is the law powerless, and justice cometh not forth victorious; for the wicked encompasseth about the righteous; therefore doth justice come forth perverted.

Therefore the law is powerless, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked encompasseth the righteous; therefore judgment goeth forth perverted.

5 Look ye about among the nations, and behold and be astonished and astounded; for [God] will fulfill a work in your days, ye would not believe it, if it were only told you.

See ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for [I] work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be declared [to you].

6 For, lo, I will raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, that march to the wide spaces of the earth to conquer dwelling-places that are not theirs.

For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, which marcheth through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.

7 Terrible and dreadful are they: from themselves go forth their judicial laws and their dignity.

They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

8 And swifter than leopards are their horses, and fiercer than the evening wolves; and their horsemen spread themselves abroad: and their horsemen will come from afar; they will fly like the eagle hastening to eat.

And their horses are swifter than the leopards, and are more agile than the evening wolves; and their horsemen prance proudly, and their horsemen come from afar: they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.

9 They all will come for violence: the front of their faces is like the east wind, and they gather captives as the sand.

They come all of them for violence: the crowd of their faces is forwards, and they gather captives as the sand.

10 And they will make sport with kings, and princes will be a play unto them: at every strong-hold will they laugh, and they will cast up earth-mounds and capture it.

Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a scorn unto him; he derideth every stronghold: for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.

11 Then doth their spirit become arrogant, and they are surpassingly proud, and offend, [imputing] this their power unto their god.

Then will his mind change, and he will pass on, and become guilty: this his power is become his god.

12 Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O Protector, thou hast appointed them to correct [nations].

— Art thou not from everlasting, Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast appointed him for correction.

13 Thou, who art too pure of eyes to behold evil, and canst not look on trouble, wherefore wilt thou look upon those that deal treacherously, be silent when the wicked swalloweth up him that is more righteous than he?

[Thou art] of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on mischief: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, [and] keepest silence when the wicked swalloweth up a [man] more righteous than he?

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

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

15 All of them he bringeth up with the angle, he draggeth them up in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad.

He taketh up all of them with the hook, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them into his drag; therefore he rejoiceth and is glad:

16 Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because through them is his portion fat, and his food marrowy.

therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; for by them his portion is become fat, and his meat dainty.

17 Shall he therefore [always] empty his net, and continually slay nations without sparing?

Shall he therefore empty his net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?