Habakkuk 1

1 The burden that Habakkuk the prophet has seen:

The message that Habakkuk the prophet received,

2 Until when, O YHWH, have I cried, And You do not hear? I cry to You, “Violence!” And You do not save.

“Yahweh, how long will I cry for help, and you will not hear? I cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you will not save.

3 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,

Why do you make me see iniquity and look upon wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention rises up.

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

Therefore the law is weakened, and justice does not last for any time. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore false justice goes out.”

5 “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.

“Look at the nations and examine them; be amazed and astonished! For I am surely about to do something in your days that you will not believe when it is reported to you.

6 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.

For look! I am about to raise up the Chaldeans—that fierce and impetuous nation— they are marching throughout the breadth of the land to seize homes that were not their own.

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

They are terrifying and fearsome; their judgment and splendor proceed from themselves.

8 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.

Their horses also are swifter than leopards, quicker than the evening wolves. So their horses stamp, and their horsemen come from a great distance—they fly like an eagle hurrying to eat.

9 All for violence—he comes in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And he gathers a captivity as the sand.

They all come for violence; their multitudes go like the desert wind, and they gather captives like sand.

10 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.

So they mock kings, and rulers are only a mockery for them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they heap up earth and take them.

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

Then the wind will rush on; it will move past—guilty men, those whose might is their god.”

12 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.

“Are you not from ancient times, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh has ordained them for judgment, and you, Rock, have established them for correction.

13 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,

Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil, and you are not able to look on wrongdoing with favor; why then have you looked favorably on those who betray? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they are?

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

You make men like fish in the sea, like creeping things without a ruler over them.

15 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.

He brings all of them up with a fishhook; he drags men away in his fishnet; he gathers them together in his dragnet; so he rejoices and he is glad.

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

Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury, and his food is the richest kind.

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

Will he therefore keep emptying his net, and will he continually slaughter the nations without mercy?”