Habakkuk 1

1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

The prophecy which Habakkuk the prophet foresaw.

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!

How long, O Lord, have I entreated [thee], and thou wouldst not hear? [how long] shall I cry out unto thee [because of] violence, and thou wilt 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 wilt thou let me see wickedness, and wilt look on trouble, and the robbery and violence [that are] before me: while there is strife, and contention lifteth up [its head]?

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 is the law powerless, and justice cometh not forth victorious; for the wicked encompasseth about the righteous; therefore doth justice come forth perverted.

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 about among the nations, and behold and be astonished and astounded; for [God] will fulfill a work in your days, ye would not believe it, if it were only told you.

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 will raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, that march to the wide spaces of the earth to conquer dwelling-places that are not theirs.

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

Terrible and dreadful are they: from themselves go forth their judicial laws and their dignity.

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.

And swifter than leopards are their horses, and fiercer than the evening wolves; and their horsemen spread themselves abroad: and their horsemen will come from afar; they will fly like the eagle hastening to eat.

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.

They all will come for violence: the front of their faces is like the east wind, and they gather captives as the sand.

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 they will make sport with kings, and princes will be a play unto them: at every strong-hold will they laugh, and they will cast up earth-mounds and capture it.

11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power to his god.

Then doth their spirit become arrogant, and they are surpassingly proud, and offend, [imputing] this their power unto their 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 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 Protector, thou hast appointed them to correct [nations].

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?

Thou, who art too pure of eyes to behold evil, and canst not look on trouble, wherefore wilt thou look upon those that deal treacherously, be silent when the wicked swalloweth up him that is 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 [why] makest thou men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

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.

All of them he bringeth up with the angle, he draggeth them up in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad.

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 sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because through them is his portion fat, and his food marrowy.

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

Shall he therefore [always] empty his net, and continually slay nations without sparing?