Habakkuk 1
1 The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision:
2 LORD, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you "Violence." and will you 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 do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.
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 paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes 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, you scoffers, and watch, and be utterly amazed, and perish; for I am working a work in your days which you will not believe, though it is 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, look, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places 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 feared and dreaded. His judgment will be from himself, and his authority will come from himself.
Awful and fearful, is he, —from himself, his decision and his uprising, proceed.
8 His horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. And their horsemen press proudly on, and, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour.
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 All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like 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 will scoff at kings and deride rulers. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes 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 he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his 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 Aren't you from everlasting, LORD my God, my Holy One? We will not die. LORD, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.
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 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who 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 make men like the fish of the sea, like the crawling creatures, 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 He takes up all of them with the hook, and he catches them in his net and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices 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 sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.
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 Will he therefore continually empty his net, killing the nations without mercy?
Shall he, on this account, empty his net? And, the continual slaying of nations, deem to be no pity?
