Habakkuk 1-3

New International Version

1 The prophecy^(A) that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

²How long,^(B) Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?^(C)
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you do not save?^(D)
³Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate^(E) wrongdoing?^(F)
Destruction and violence^(G) are before me;
    there is strife,^(H) and conflict abounds.
⁴Therefore the law^(I) is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice^(J) is perverted.^(K)

The Lord’s Answer

⁵“Look at the nations and watch—
    and be utterly amazed.^(L)
For I am going to do something in your days
    that you would not believe,
    even if you were told.^(M)
⁶I am raising up the Babylonians,^[a]^(N)
    that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth^(O)
    to seize dwellings not their own.^(P)
⁷They are a feared and dreaded people;^(Q)
    they are a law to themselves
    and promote their own honor.
⁸Their horses are swifter^(R) than leopards,
    fiercer than wolves^(S) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
    their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
⁹    they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes^[b] advance like a desert wind
    and gather prisoners^(T) like sand.
¹⁰They mock kings
    and scoff at rulers.^(U)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
    by building earthen ramps^(V) they capture them.
¹¹Then they sweep past like the wind^(W) and go on—
    guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”^(X)

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

¹²Lord, are you not from everlasting?^(Y)
    My God, my Holy One,^(Z) you^[c] will never die.^(AA)
You, Lord, have appointed^(AB) them to execute judgment;
    you, my Rock,^(AC) have ordained them to punish.
¹³Your eyes are too pure^(AD) to look on evil;
    you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.^(AE)
Why then do you tolerate^(AF) the treacherous?^(AG)
    Why are you silent while the wicked
    swallow up those more righteous than themselves?^(AH)
¹⁴You have made people like the fish in the sea,
    like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
¹⁵The wicked^(AI) foe pulls all of them up with hooks,^(AJ)
    he catches them in his net,^(AK)
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
    and so he rejoices and is glad.
¹⁶Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and burns incense^(AL) to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
    and enjoys the choicest food.
¹⁷Is he to keep on emptying his net,
    destroying nations without mercy?^(AM)

2 I will stand at my watch^(AN)
and station myself on the ramparts;^(AO)
I will look to see what he will say^(AP) to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.^[d]^(AQ)

The Lord’s Answer

²Then the Lord replied:

“Write^(AR) down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald^[e] may run with it.
³For the revelation awaits an appointed time;^(AS)
    it speaks of the end^(AT)
    and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait^(AU) for it;
    it^[f] will certainly come
    and will not delay.^(AV)

⁴“See, the enemy is puffed up;
    his desires are not upright—
    but the righteous person^(AW) will live by his faithfulness^[g]^(AX)—
⁵indeed, wine^(AY) betrays him;
    he is arrogant^(AZ) and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
    and like death is never satisfied,^(BA)
he gathers to himself all the nations
    and takes captive^(BB) all the peoples.

⁶“Will not all of them taunt^(BC) him with ridicule and scorn, saying,

“‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
    and makes himself wealthy by extortion!^(BD)
    How long must this go on?’
⁷Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
    Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
    Then you will become their prey.^(BE)
⁸Because you have plundered many nations,
    the peoples who are left will plunder you.^(BF)
For you have shed human blood;^(BG)
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.^(BH)

⁹“Woe to him who builds^(BI) his house by unjust gain,^(BJ)
    setting his nest^(BK) on high
    to escape the clutches of ruin!
¹⁰You have plotted the ruin^(BL) of many peoples,
    shaming^(BM) your own house and forfeiting your life.
¹¹The stones^(BN) of the wall will cry out,
    and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.

¹²“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed^(BO)
    and establishes a town by injustice!
¹³Has not the Lord Almighty determined
    that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,^(BP)
    that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?^(BQ)
¹⁴For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory^(BR) of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.^(BS)

¹⁵“Woe to him who gives drink^(BT) to his neighbors,
    pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
    so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
¹⁶You will be filled with shame^(BU) instead of glory.^(BV)
    Now it is your turn! Drink^(BW) and let your nakedness be exposed^[h]!^(BX)
The cup^(BY) from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
    and disgrace will cover your glory.
¹⁷The violence^(BZ) you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    and your destruction of animals will terrify you.^(CA)
For you have shed human blood;^(CB)
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

¹⁸“Of what value^(CC) is an idol^(CD) carved by a craftsman?
    Or an image^(CE) that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
    he makes idols that cannot speak.^(CF)
¹⁹Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
    Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’^(CG)
Can it give guidance?
    It is covered with gold and silver;^(CH)
    there is no breath in it.”^(CI)

²⁰The Lord is in his holy temple;^(CJ)
let all the earth be silent^(CK) before him.

Habakkuk’s Prayer

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.^[i]^(CL)

²Lord, I have heard^(CM) of your fame;
    I stand in awe^(CN) of your deeds, Lord.^(CO)
Repeat^(CP) them in our day,
    in our time make them known;
    in wrath remember mercy.^(CQ)

³God came from Teman,^(CR)
    the Holy One^(CS) from Mount Paran.^[j]^(CT)
His glory covered the heavens^(CU)
    and his praise filled the earth.^(CV)
⁴His splendor was like the sunrise;^(CW)
    rays flashed from his hand,
    where his power^(CX) was hidden.
⁵Plague^(CY) went before him;
    pestilence followed his steps.
⁶He stood, and shook the earth;
    he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled^(CZ)
    and the age-old hills^(DA) collapsed^(DB)—
    but he marches on forever.^(DC)
⁷I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
    the dwellings of Midian^(DD) in anguish.^(DE)

⁸Were you angry with the rivers,^(DF) Lord?
    Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea^(DG)
    when you rode your horses
    and your chariots to victory?^(DH)
⁹You uncovered your bow,
    you called for many arrows.^(DI)
You split the earth with rivers;
¹⁰    the mountains saw you and writhed.^(DJ)
Torrents of water swept by;
    the deep roared^(DK)
    and lifted its waves^(DL) on high.

¹¹Sun and moon stood still^(DM) in the heavens
    at the glint of your flying arrows,^(DN)
    at the lightning^(DO) of your flashing spear.
¹²In wrath you strode through the earth
    and in anger you threshed^(DP) the nations.
¹³You came out^(DQ) to deliver^(DR) your people,
    to save your anointed^(DS) one.
You crushed^(DT) the leader of the land of wickedness,
    you stripped him from head to foot.
¹⁴With his own spear you pierced his head
    when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,^(DU)
gloating as though about to devour
    the wretched^(DV) who were in hiding.
¹⁵You trampled the sea^(DW) with your horses,
    churning the great waters.^(DX)

¹⁶I heard and my heart pounded,
    my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
    and my legs trembled.^(DY)
Yet I will wait patiently^(DZ) for the day of calamity
    to come on the nation invading us.
¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,^(EA)
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,^(EB)
¹⁸yet I will rejoice in the Lord,^(EC)
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.^(ED)

¹⁹The Sovereign Lord is my strength;^(EE)
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.^(EF)

For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

Footnotes

Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Habakkuk 1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we
Habakkuk 2:1 Or and what to answer when I am rebuked
Habakkuk 2:2 Or so that whoever reads it
Habakkuk 2:3 Or Though he linger, wait for him; / he
Habakkuk 2:4 Or faith
Habakkuk 2:16 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint) and stagger
Habakkuk 3:1 Probably a literary or musical term
Habakkuk 3:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the middle of verse 9 and at the end of verse 13.

1 John 3-5

New International Version

3 See what great love^(A) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!^(B) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^(C) ²Dear friends,^(D) now we are children of God,^(E) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a]^(F) we shall be like him,^(G) for we shall see him as he is.^(H) ³All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(I) just as he is pure.^(J)

⁴Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.^(K) ⁵But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.^(L) And in him is no sin.^(M) ⁶No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.^(N) No one who continues to sin has either seen him^(O) or known him.^(P)

⁷Dear children,^(Q) do not let anyone lead you astray.^(R) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^(S) ⁸The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(T) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(U) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^(V) ⁹No one who is born of God^(W) will continue to sin,^(X) because God’s seed^(Y) remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰This is how we know who the children of God^(Z) are and who the children of the devil^(AA) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love^(AB) their brother and sister.^(AC)

More on Love and Hatred

¹¹For this is the message you heard^(AD) from the beginning:^(AE) We should love one another.^(AF) ¹²Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one^(AG) and murdered his brother.^(AH) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.^(AI) ¹³Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,^[b] if the world hates you.^(AJ) ¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life,^(AK) because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.^(AL) ¹⁵Anyone who hates a brother or sister^(AM) is a murderer,^(AN) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.^(AO)

¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.^(AP) And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^(AQ) ¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,^(AR) how can the love of God be in that person?^(AS) ¹⁸Dear children,^(AT) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.^(AU)

¹⁹This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹Dear friends,^(AV) if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God^(AW) ²²and receive from him anything we ask,^(AX) because we keep his commands^(AY) and do what pleases him.^(AZ) ²³And this is his command: to believe^(BA) in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,^(BB) and to love one another as he commanded us.^(BC) ²⁴The one who keeps God’s commands^(BD) lives in him,^(BE) and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.^(BF)

On Denying the Incarnation

4 Dear friends,^(BG) do not believe every spirit,^(BH) but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.^(BI) ²This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh^(BJ) is from God,^(BK) ³but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,^(BL) which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.^(BM)

⁴You, dear children,^(BN) are from God and have overcome them,^(BO) because the one who is in you^(BP) is greater than the one who is in the world.^(BQ) ⁵They are from the world^(BR) and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.^(BS) This is how we recognize the Spirit^[c] of truth^(BT) and the spirit of falsehood.^(BU)

God’s Love and Ours

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another,^(BV) for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God^(BW) and knows God.^(BX) ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.^(BY) ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son^(BZ) into the world that we might live through him.^(CA) ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us^(CB) and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.^(CC) ¹¹Dear friends,^(CD) since God so loved us,^(CE) we also ought to love one another.^(CF) ¹²No one has ever seen God;^(CG) but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.^(CH)

¹³This is how we know^(CI) that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.^(CJ) ¹⁴And we have seen and testify^(CK) that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.^(CL) ¹⁵If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,^(CM) God lives in them and they in God.^(CN) ¹⁶And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love.^(CO) Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.^(CP) ¹⁷This is how love is made complete^(CQ) among us so that we will have confidence^(CR) on the day of judgment:^(CS) In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,^(CT) because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹We love because he first loved us.^(CU) ²⁰Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister^(CV) is a liar.^(CW) For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen,^(CX) cannot love God, whom they have not seen.^(CY) ²¹And he has given us this command:^(CZ) Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.^(DA)

Faith in the Incarnate Son of God

5 Everyone who believes^(DB) that Jesus is the Christ^(DC) is born of God,^(DD) and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.^(DE) ²This is how we know^(DF) that we love the children of God:^(DG) by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.^(DH) And his commands are not burdensome,^(DI) ⁴for everyone born of God^(DJ) overcomes^(DK) the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.^(DL)

⁶This is the one who came by water and blood^(DM)—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.^(DN) ⁷For there are three^(DO) that testify: ⁸the^[d] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. ⁹We accept human testimony,^(DP) but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God,^(DQ) which he has given about his Son. ¹⁰Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony.^(DR) Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar,^(DS) because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. ¹¹And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life,^(DT) and this life is in his Son.^(DU) ¹²Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.^(DV)

Concluding Affirmations

¹³I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God^(DW) so that you may know that you have eternal life.^(DX) ¹⁴This is the confidence^(DY) we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.^(DZ) ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know^(EA) that we have what we asked of him.^(EB)

¹⁶If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life.^(EC) I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death.^(ED) I am not saying that you should pray about that.^(EE) ¹⁷All wrongdoing is sin,^(EF) and there is sin that does not lead to death.^(EG)

¹⁸We know that anyone born of God^(EH) does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one^(EI) cannot harm them.^(EJ) ¹⁹We know that we are children of God,^(EK) and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.^(EL) ²⁰We know also that the Son of God has come^(EM) and has given us understanding,^(EN) so that we may know him who is true.^(EO) And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.^(EP)

²¹Dear children,^(EQ) keep yourselves from idols.^(ER)

Footnotes

1 John 3:2 Or when it is made known
1 John 3:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.
1 John 4:6 Or spirit
1 John 5:8 Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. ⁸And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century)

New International Version (NIV)

Habakkuk 1-3

New International Version

Habakkuk’s Complaint

The Lord’s Answer

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

The Lord’s Answer

Habakkuk’s Prayer

Footnotes

Cross references

1 John 3-5

New International Version

More on Love and Hatred

On Denying the Incarnation

God’s Love and Ours

Faith in the Incarnate Son of God

Concluding Affirmations

Footnotes

Cross references

More on the NIV

Bible Gateway Recommends

Habakkuk 1-3 New International Version

Habakkuk’s Complaint

The Lord’s Answer

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

The Lord’s Answer

Habakkuk’s Prayer

Footnotes

Cross references

1 John 3-5 New International Version

More on Love and Hatred

On Denying the Incarnation

God’s Love and Ours

Faith in the Incarnate Son of God

Concluding Affirmations

Footnotes

Cross references

More on the NIV

Bible Gateway Recommends

Habakkuk 1-3

New International Version

1 John 3-5

New International Version