Habakkuk 2

1 [After I said that, I said to myself, ] “I will climb up into my watchtower, and stand there at my guard post. I will wait there to find out what Yahweh will say, what he will reply to what I have complained about.”

I will stand on my watch-tower, And set myself on the bulwark, And watch to see what he will say to me, And what I shall answer to my expostulation.

2 Then Yahweh replied to me, “Write plainly on tablets [what I am revealing to you in] this vision, [and then read it to a messenger] in order that he can run with it [to tell it to] other people.

And Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, That he may run that readeth it.

3 In this vision [I will be talking about things that will happen] in the future. Now is not the time when those things will happen, but they certainly will happen, and when they occur, they will occur quickly, and they will not be delayed. Now you [want those things to happen immediately, but] they are not happening. But wait patiently for them [to happen]!

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, But it hasteneth to the end; it shall not deceive; If it tarry, wait for it; For it shall surely come; it shall not long delay.

4 Think about the proud [people of Babylonia]! They are certainly not doing what is righteous. But people who are righteous will live because they faithfully [do what I want them to do].

Behold, the soul of him that is puffed up shall not be at ease; But the just shall live by his faithfulness.

5 If people [trust in their wealth], they will deceive themselves, and proud people are never able to rest. [It is as though] the greedy people [of Babylonia open their mouths] as wide as the place where dead people are, and they never have enough, like [the place where] dead people go never has enough dead people [PRS]. The [armies of Babylonia] conquer many nations for themselves, and capture all their people. (Sheol h7585)

Behold, the man of wine is outrageous; The proud man remaineth not at rest; He enlargeth his desire as the grave; He is as death, and cannot be satisfied; He gathereth to himself all the nations, And collecteth to himself all the kingdoms. (Sheol h7585)

6 But [soon] all those [whom they have captured] will ridicule [the soldiers from Babylonia]! They will make fun of them, saying, ‘Terrible things will happen to you who have stolen things [from other countries]! You got many things by forcing people to give them to you. [But you certainly will not keep those things] for a long time [RHQ]!’

Shall not all of them utter a song against him, Yea, songs of reproach and derision concerning him? And say, Woe to him that heapeth up that which belongeth not to him! For how long a time? That ladeth himself with goods taken in pledge!

7 Suddenly those whom you (oppressed/treated cruelly) will cause you to tremble, and they will take away all the things that you have stolen from them.

Shall not they suddenly rise up that will oppress thee, And awake, that will harass thee? Yea, thou shalt be their booty.

8 You stole things from the people of many nations. You murdered [MTY] people of many people-groups, and you destroyed their land and their cities. So those who are still alive will steal valuable things from you.

Because thou hast plundered many kingdoms, All the residue of the nations shall plunder thee: For the blood of men, and for violence against the land, Against the city and all its inhabitants.

9 Terrible things will happen to you [people of Babylonia] who build big houses with money that you got by forcing others to give it to you. You are proud and you think that your houses will be safe because you have built them in places where you can easily defend them.

Woe to him that procureth unjust gain for his house, That he may set his nest on high, That he may be delivered from the evil hand!

10 But because you have destroyed others, you have caused your family [MTY] to be shamed/disgraced, and you yourselves will be killed.

Thou hast devised shame for thine house; By destroying many nations, thou hast brought ruin upon thyself.

11 [It is as though] the stones in the walls [of your houses] cry out to accuse you, and [it is as though] the beams [in your ceilings] also say the same things.

For the stone from the wall crieth out, And the beam from the timber answereth it.

12 Terrible things will happen to you [people of Babylonia] who kill people [MTY] in order to build cities, cities that you build by using money that you have gotten by committing crimes.

Woe to him that buildeth a town by blood, And establisheth a city by iniquity!

13 But the Commander of the armies of angels has [RHQ] declared that everything that is built by people who do things like that [will be destroyed by] fire; they will have worked hard uselessly.

Behold, it is determined by Jehovah of hosts, That nations shall labor for the fire, And kingdoms weary themselves for naught.

14 But [in contrast], like [SIM] the oceans are filled with water, the earth will be filled with [people who] know that Yahweh is very great.

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, As the waters cover the sea.

15 Terrible things will happen to you [people of Babylonia] who cause people who live in nearby countries to become drunk. You force them to drink a lot of wine from wineskins [until they are drunk and then they walk around] naked, in order that you can see that.

Woe to him who giveth his neighbor drink; Who poureth out the strong wine, and maketh him drunken, That he may look upon his nakedness!

16 But you are the ones who [soon] will be disgraced instead of being honored. [It will be as though you are forced to] drink [a lot of wine] in order that you will also stagger [around, drunk]. You will drink the wine [that symbolizes that Yahweh will punish you], and he will cause you to be disgraced instead of being greatly respected [any more].

Thou shalt be filled with shame instead of glory; Drink thou also, and show thy foreskin! To thee shall come the cup in the right hand of Jehovah, And foul shame shall be upon thy glory.

17 You did violent [PRS] things to [the people in] Lebanon, and you killed the wild animals [there], but you will be punished severely for doing that. You have killed [MTY] many people and you have destroyed their lands and their cities.

For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, And the destruction of the beasts which made them afraid, On account of the blood of men, and violence against the land, Against the city and all its inhabitants.

18 [You people of Babylonia need to know that your] idols are completely [RHQ] useless, because it is people who made them. Statues that have been carved or made in a mold deceive you. Those who trust in idols are trusting in things that they themselves created, things that cannot speak!

What profiteth the graven image, When the maker hath graven it? Or the molten image, and the teacher of lies, That the artificer trusteth in his work, When he maketh dumb idols?

19 Terrible things will happen to you who say to lifeless idols that are made of wood, ‘Wake up!’ Idols certainly cannot [RHQ] tell you what you should do; they [look nice/beautiful because] they are covered with silver and gold, but they are not alive.

Woe to him who saith to the wood, Awake! To the dumb stone, Arise! Will it teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath within it.

20 But Yahweh is in his holy temple; everyone on the earth should be silent in his presence.”

But Jehovah is in his Holy temple; Be silent before him, all the earth!