Habakkuk 1 (New American Standard Bible)

Habakkuk 1

Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah

 ¹The ^[a](A)oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
    ^2(B)How long, O LORD, will I call for help,
         And You will not hear?
         I cry out to You, "Violence!"
         Yet You do ^(C)not save.
    ³Why do You make me ^(D)see iniquity,
         And cause me to look on wickedness?
         Yes, ^(E)destruction and violence are before me;
         ^(F)Strife exists and contention arises.
    ⁴Therefore the ^(G)law is ignored
         And justice is never upheld
         For the wicked ^(H)surround the righteous;
         Therefore justice comes out ^(I)perverted.
    ⁵"^(J)Look among the nations! Observe!
         Be astonished! ^(K)Wonder!
         Because I am doing ^(L)something in your days--
         You would not believe if you were told.
    ⁶"For behold, I am ^(M)raising up the Chaldeans,
         That fierce and impetuous people
         Who march throughout the earth
         To ^(N)seize dwelling places which are not theirs.
    ⁷"They are dreaded and ^(O)feared;
         Their ^(P)justice and authority originate with themselves.
    ⁸"Their ^(Q)horses are swifter than leopards
         And keener than ^(R)wolves in the evening
         Their horsemen come galloping,
         Their horsemen come from afar;
         They fly like an ^(S)eagle swooping down to devour.
    ⁹"All of them come for violence.
         Their horde of ^(T)faces moves forward.
         They collect captives like sand.
    ¹⁰"They ^(U)mock at kings
         And rulers are a laughing matter to them
         They ^(V)laugh at every fortress
         And ^(W)heap up rubble to capture it.
    ¹¹"Then they will sweep through like the ^(X)wind and pass on
         But they will be held ^(Y)guilty,
         They whose ^(Z)strength is their god."
    ¹²Are You not from ^(AA)everlasting,
         O LORD, my God, my Holy One?
         We will not die
         You, O LORD, have ^(AB)appointed them to judge;
         And You, O ^(AC)Rock, have established them to correct.
    ¹³Your eyes are too ^(AD)pure to approve evil,
         And You can not look on wickedness with favor
         Why do You ^(AE)look with favor
         On those who deal ^(AF)treacherously?
         Why are You ^(AG)silent when the wicked ^(AH)swallow up
         Those more righteous than they?
    ¹⁴Why have You made men like the fish of the sea,
         Like creeping things without a ruler over them?
    ¹⁵The Chaldeans ^(AI)bring all of them up with a hook,
         ^(AJ)Drag them away with their net,
         And gather them together in their fishing net.
         Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
    ¹⁶Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
         And burn incense to their fishing net;
         Because through ^(AK)these things their catch is large,
         And their food is plentiful.
    ¹⁷Will they therefore empty their ^(AL)net
         And continually ^(AM)slay nations without sparing?