Habakkuk 1
1 The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision:
The revelation which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
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?
LORD, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you 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 do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises 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 the law is paralysed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.
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 amongst the nations, watch, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days which you will not believe though it is told you.
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, behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation who march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
7 Awful and fearful, is he, —from himself, his decision and his uprising, proceed.
They are feared and dreaded. Their judgement and their dignity proceed from themselves.
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.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour.
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;
All of them come for violence. Their hordes face forward. They gather prisoners like sand.
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!
Yes, they scoff at kings, and princes are a derision to them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they build up an earthen ramp and take 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 they sweep by like the wind and go on. They are indeed guilty, whose strength is their 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:
Aren’t you from everlasting, LORD my God, my Holy One? We will not die. LORD, you have appointed them for judgement. You, Rock, have established him to punish.
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?
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,
14 So wouldst thou have made Men, like the fishes of the sea, —like the creeping thing that hath no ruler over it:
and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things that have no ruler over them?
15 All of which, with a hook, one bringeth up, raketh together with his drag, and hath gathered with his net, —
He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.
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 sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious and his food is good.
17 Shall he, on this account, empty his net? And, the continual slaying of nations, deem to be no pity?
Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?
