Habakkuk 1

1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

The burden that Habakkuk the prophet hath seen:

2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out to thee of violence, and thou wilt 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 Why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for plundering and violence are before me: and there are that raise strife and contention.

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 Therefore the law is feeble, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth surround the righteous; therefore judgment goeth 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 heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

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, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.

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 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed from themselves.

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

8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

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 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captives as the sand.

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 they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn to them: they shall laugh at every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take 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 shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power to his god.

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

12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

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 art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: why lookest thou on them that deal treacherously, and keepest silence when the wicked devoureth the man that is 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 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

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

15 They take up all of them with the hook, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

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 Therefore they sacrifice to their net, and burn incense to their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their food plenteous.

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 they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

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