Abacuc 1
1 Oracolo che il profeta Habacuc ebbe per visione.
[I am] Habakkuk, a prophet. This is the [message that Yahweh] gave to me in a vision.
2 Fino a quando, o Eterno, griderò, senza che tu mi dia ascolto? Io grido a te: “Violenza!” e tu non salvi.
[I said, ] “Yahweh, how long must I continue to call [to you] for help before you respond? I cry out to you [for help], saying that [people are acting] violently [everywhere], but you do not rescue us!
3 Perché mi fai veder l’iniquità, e tolleri lo spettacolo della perversità? e perché mi stanno dinanzi la rapina e la violenza? Vi son liti, e sorge la discordia.
(Must I/I do not want to) continue seeing people doing what is unjust [RHQ]. Why do you not punish people who are doing what is wrong [RHQ]? I see people destroying things and [acting] violently. There is fighting and quarreling [everywhere].
4 Perciò la legge è senza forza e il diritto non fa strada, perché l’empio aggira il giusto, e il diritto n’esce pervertito.
No one obeys laws [PRS], and judges [PRS] never do what is fair/just. Wicked people always defeat righteous people [in the courts], with the result that matters are never decided fairly/justly.”
5 Vedete fra le nazioni, guardate, maravigliatevi, e siate stupefatti! Poiché io sto per fare ai vostri giorni un’opera, che voi non credereste, se ve la raccontassero.
[Yahweh replied to me, ] “[I know that what you say is true, but] look around at [what is happening in] the other nations; [if you look, ] you will be amazed, because I am doing something during this time that you would not believe [would happen], even if someone told you about it.
6 Perché, ecco, io sto per suscitare i Caldei, questa nazione aspra e impetuosa, che percorre la terra quant’è larga, per impadronirsi di dimore, che non son sue.
The soldiers of Babylonia are fierce/cruel and swift. And now I am causing them [to become very powerful]; they will march across the world and conquer [many] other countries.
7 E’ terribile, formidabile; il suo diritto e la sua grandezza emanano da lui stesso.
They are people whom [others] fear very much [DOU], and they do whatever they want to, paying no attention to the laws of other countries.
8 I suoi cavalli son più veloci de’ leopardi, più agili de’ lupi della sera; i suoi cavalieri procedon con fierezza; i suoi cavalieri vengon di lontano, volan come l’aquila che piomba sulla preda.
The horses [that pull their chariots] go faster than leopards, and they are fiercer than wolves are in the evening. The horses on which the soldiers ride gallop swiftly; the soldiers riding them come from distant places. They are like [SIM] eagles that swoop down to [snatch and] kill small animals.
9 Tutta quella gente viene per darsi alla violenza, le lor facce bramose son tese in avanti, e ammassan prigionieri senza numero come la rena.
As they ride along, [they are] determined to act violently. They advance like [SIM] a wind from the desert, gathering prisoners that are as [numerous as grains of] sand.
10 Si fan beffe dei re, e i principi son per essi oggetto di scherno; si ridono di tutte le fortezze; ammontano un po’ di terra, e le prendono.
They make fun of kings and princes [of other countries], and they ridicule all the cities that have high walls around them. They pile dirt [outside those walls] [in order to climb up] and capture those cities.
11 Poi passan come il vento; passan oltre e si rendon colpevoli, questa lor forza è il loro dio.
They rush past like the wind, and then they go [to attack other cities]. But they are very guilty, because [they think that] their own power is their god.”
12 Non sei tu ab antico; o Eterno, il mio Dio, il mio Santo? Noi non morremo! O Eterno, tu l’hai posto, questo popolo, per esercitare i tuoi giudizi, tu, o Ròcca, l’hai stabilito per infliggere i tuoi castighi.
[Then I said, ] “Yahweh, you have certainly [RHQ] always/forever been God. You are my Holy One; you will not die. So [why] have you appointed those men [from Babylonia] to judge and get rid of [us]? You are like [MET] a huge rock [under which we are protected/safe], so why have you sent them to punish us?
13 Tu, che hai gli occhi troppo puri per sopportar la vista del male, e che non puoi tollerar lo spettacolo dell’iniquità, perché guardi i perfidi, e taci quando il malvagio divora l’uomo ch’è più giusto di lui?
You [SYN] are pure, and you cannot endure looking at what is evil, [so why] are you ignoring men who are treacherous? Why do you do nothing [to punish] those wicked men [from Babylonia] who destroy people who are more righteous than they [are]?
14 E perché rendi gli uomini come i pesci del mare e come i rettili, che non hanno signore?
[Do you consider that] we are like fish in the sea, or like other creatures in the sea, that have no ruler?
15 Il Caldeo li trae tutti su con l’amo, li piglia nella sua rete, li raccoglie nel suo giacchio; perciò si rallegra ed esulta.
[The soldiers of Babylonia think that we are fish] [RHQ] for them to pull out of the sea with hooks or to catch in their nets, while they rejoice and celebrate.
16 Per questo fa sacrifizi alla sua rete, e offre profumi al suo giacchio; perché per essi la sua parte è grassa, e il suo cibo è succulento.
If they catch us, they will [worship] their weapons [MET] with which they captured us, and offer sacrifices to them and burn incense in front of them! [They will say] ‘Those weapons have enabled us to become rich and be able to eat expensive food.’
17 Dev’egli per questo seguitare a vuotare la sua rete, e massacrar del continuo le nazioni senza pietà?
[Will you allow] them to continue [to conquer people] [MET] forever? [Will you allow] them to destroy people of other nations without their being merciful [to anyone]?”
