Habakkuk 1
1 The birthun that Abacuk, the profete, sai.
The prophecy which Habakkuk the prophet foresaw.
2 Hou longe, Lord, schal Y crye, and thou schalt not here? Y suffrynge violence schal crie an hiy to thee, and thou schalt not saue?
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 Whi schewidist thou to me wickidnesse and trauel, for to se prey and vnriytwisnesse ayens me? Whi biholdist thou dispiseris, and art stille, the while an vnpitouse man defoulith a riytfulere than hym silf? And thou schalt make men as fischis of the see, and as crepynge thingis not hauynge a ledere; and doom is maad, and ayenseiyng is more miyti.
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 For this thing lawe is `to-brokun, and doom cometh not til to the ende; for the vnpitouse man hath miyt ayens the iust, therfor weiward doom schal go out.
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 Biholde ye in hethene men, and se ye, and wondre ye, and greetli drede ye; for a werk is doon in youre daies, which no man schal bileue, whanne it schal be teld.
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! Y schal reise Caldeis, a bittir folk and swift, goynge on the breede of erthe, that he welde tabernaclis not hise.
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 It is orible, and dredeful; the dom and birthun therof schal go out of it silf.
Terrible and dreadful are they: from themselves go forth their judicial laws and their dignity.
8 His horsis ben liytere than pardis, and swifter than euentyd woluys, and hise horse men schulen be scaterid abrood; for whi `horse men schulen come fro fer, thei schulen fle as an egle hastynge to ete.
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 Alle men schulen come to preye, the faces of hem is as a brennynge wynd; and he schal gadere as grauel caitifte,
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 he schal haue victorie of kyngis, and tirauntis schulen be of his scornyng. He schal leiye on al strengthe, and schal bere togidere heep of erthe, and schal 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 Thanne the spirit schal be chaungid, and he schal passe forth, and falle doun; this is the strengthe of hym, of his god.
Then doth their spirit become arrogant, and they are surpassingly proud, and offend, [imputing] this their power unto their god.
12 Whether `thou, Lord, art not my God, myn hooli, and we schulen not die? Lord, in to doom thou hast set hym, and thou groundidist hym strong, that thou schuldist chastise.
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 Thin iyen ben clene, se thou not yuel, and thou schalt not mowe biholde to wickidnesse. Whi biholdist thou not on men doynge wickidli, and thou art stille, while the vnpitouse man deuourith a more iust man than hymsilf?
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 thou schalt make men as fischis of the see, and as a crepynge thing not hauynge prince.
And [why] makest thou men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
15 He schal lifte vp al in the hook; he drawide it in his greet net, and gaderide in to his net; on this thing he schal be glad, and make ioie with outforth.
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 Therfore he schal offere to his greet net, and schal make sacrifice to his net; for in hem his part is maad fat, and his mete is chosun.
Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because through them is his portion fat, and his food marrowy.
17 Therfor for this thing he spredith abrood his greet net, and euere more he ceesith not for to sle folkis.
Shall he therefore [always] empty his net, and continually slay nations without sparing?
