Habakkuk 1

1 The prophecy which Habakkuk the prophet foresaw.

The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision:

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?

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 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]?

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

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 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.

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

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

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.

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

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 doth their spirit become arrogant, and they are surpassingly proud, and offend, [imputing] this their power unto their 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 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 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 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] 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 [why] makest thou men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

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

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.

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

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

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

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