Habakkuk 1

1 The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision:

The burden that Habakkuk the prophet hath seen:

2 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?

Till when, O Jehovah, have I cried, And Thou dost not hear? I cry unto Thee — 'Violence,' and Thou dost not save.

3 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?

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 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?

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 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.

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 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.

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

Terrible and fearful it [is], From itself its judgment and its excellency go forth.

8 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.

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 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;

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, 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!

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, hath he become arrogant in spirit, and hath committed excess, and so is guilty, —this his violence, is due to his god.

Then passed on hath the spirit, Yea, he doth transgress, And doth ascribe this his power to his god.

12 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:

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 [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?

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

And Thou makest man as fishes of the sea, As a creeping thing — none ruling over him.

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

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 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!

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

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