< Habakkuk 1 >
1 The burden that Habakkuk the prophet hath seen:
The prophecy which Habakkuk the prophet foresaw.
2 Till when, O Jehovah, have I cried, And Thou dost not hear? I cry unto Thee — 'Violence,' and Thou dost 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 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,
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 doth law cease, And judgment doth not go forth for ever, For the wicked is compassing the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment goeth forth.
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 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.
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 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.
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 Terrible and fearful it [is], From itself its judgment and its excellency go forth.
Terrible and dreadful are they: from themselves go forth their judicial laws and their dignity.
8 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.
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 Wholly for violence it doth come in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And it doth gather as the sand a captivity.
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 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.
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 passed on hath the spirit, Yea, he doth transgress, And doth ascribe 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 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.
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 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,
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 makest man as fishes of the sea, As a creeping thing — none ruling over him.
And [why] makest thou men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
15 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.
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 he doth sacrifice to his net, And doth make perfume to his drag, For by them [is] his portion fertile, and his food fat.
Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because through them is his portion fat, and his food marrowy.
17 Doth he therefore empty his net, And continually to slay nations spare not?
Shall he therefore [always] empty his net, and continually slay nations without sparing?