Habacuc Propheta 1
1 Onus, quod vidit Habacuc propheta.
The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision:
2 Usquequo Domine clamabo, et non exaudies? vociferabor ad te vim patiens, et non salvabis?
How long, O Yahweh, have I called out, and thou wouldst not hear me? Have I kept crying unto thee of violence, and thou wouldst not save?
3 Quare ostendisti mihi iniquitatem, et laborem, videre prædam, et iniustitiam contra me? et factum est iudicium, et contradictio potentior.
Wherefore shouldst thou let me see iniquity, and, wrong, shouldst let me behold, and, force and violence, be straight before me, —and there should have ever been someone who, contention and strife, would uphold?
4 Propter hoc lacerata est lex, et non pervenit usque ad finem iudicium: quia impius prævalet adversus iustum, propterea egreditur iudicium perversum.
For which cause, benumbed is the law, and there is never any going forth of justice, —for, the lawless, doth circumvent the righteous, for which cause, justice doth go forth perverted?
5 Aspicite in gentibus, et videte: admiramini, et obstupescite: quia opus factum est in diebus vestris, quod nemo credet cum narrabitur.
Behold ye, among the nations, and look around, Yea stand stock still—stare, —for, a work, is being wrought in your days, ye will not believe, when it is recounted.
6 Quia ecce ego suscitabo Chaldæos, gentem amaram et velocem, ambulantem super latitudinem terræ, ut possideat tabernacula non sua.
For, behold me! raising up the Chaldeans, the bitter and headlong nation, —that marcheth to the breadths of the earth, to take possession of habitations, not his.
7 Horribilis, et terribilis est: ex semetipsa iudicium, et onus eius egredietur.
Awful and fearful, is he, —from himself, his decision and his uprising, proceed.
8 Leviores pardis equi eius, et velociores lupis vespertinis: et diffundentur equites eius: equites namque eius de longe venient, volabunt quasi aquila festinans ad comedendum.
Then, swifter than leopards, are his horses, and, more sharply they attack, than evening wolves, and forward have leapt his chargers, —Yea, his chargers, from afar, will come in, they will fly as an eagle hath hastened to devour.
9 Omnes ad prædam venient, facies eorum ventus urens: et congregabit quasi arenam, captivitatem.
Solely for violence, will he come, the intent of their faces, is—To the east! And he hath gathered, as the sand, a captive host;
10 Et ipse de regibus triumphabit, et tyranni ridiculi eius erunt: ipse super omnem munitionem ridebit, et comportabit aggerem, et capiet eam.
And, he, over kings, will make merry, and, nobles, will be a scorn to him: he, at any fortress, will laugh, once he hath heaped up dust, he hath captured it!
11 Tunc mutabitur spiritus, et pertransibit; et corruet: hæc est fortitudo eius dei sui.
Then, hath he become arrogant in spirit, and hath committed excess, and so is guilty, —this his violence, is due to his god.
12 Numquid non tu a principio Domine Deus meus, sancte meus, et non moriemur? Domine in iudicium posuisti eum: et fortem ut corriperes, fundasti eum.
Art not, thou, from of old, O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One? Thou diest not! O Yahweh, to judgment, hast thou appointed him, and, O Rock, to correction, hast thou devoted him:
13 Mundi sunt oculi tui, ne videas malum, et respicere ad iniquitatem non poteris. quare respicis super iniqua agentes, et taces devorante impio iustiorem se?
[Thou] whose eyes are too pure to look with approval on wrong, to respect oppression, canst not endure, —Wherefore, shouldst thou respect the treacherous? Be silent, when the lawless, swalloweth up, one more righteous than he?
14 Et facies homines quasi pisces maris, et quasi reptile non habens principem.
So wouldst thou have made Men, like the fishes of the sea, —like the creeping thing that hath no ruler over it:
15 Totum in hamo sublevavit, traxit illud in sagena sua, et congregavit in rete suum. Super hoc lætabitur et exultabit.
All of which, with a hook, one bringeth up, raketh together with his drag, and hath gathered with his net, —
16 propterea immolabit sagenæ suæ, et sacrificabit reti suo: quia in ipsis incrassata est pars eius, et cibus eius electus.
On which account, he is glad and exulteth: on which account, he sacrificeth to his Net, and burneth incense to his Drag; because, thereby, rich, is his portion, and his food—fatness!
17 Propter hoc ergo expandit sagenam suam, et semper interficere Gentes non parcet.
Shall he, on this account, empty his net? And, the continual slaying of nations, deem to be no pity?
