Habacuc 1
Louis Segond
1 Oracle révélé à Habakuk, le prophète.
2 Jusqu'à quand, ô Éternel?... J'ai crié, Et tu n'écoutes pas! J'ai crié vers toi à la violence, Et tu ne secours pas!
3 Pourquoi me fais-tu voir l'iniquité, Et contemples-tu l'injustice? Pourquoi l'oppression et la violence sont-elles devant moi? Il y a des querelles, et la discorde s'élève.
4 Aussi la loi n'a point de vie, La justice n'a point de force; Car le méchant triomphe du juste, Et l'on rend des jugements iniques.
5 Jetez les yeux parmi les nations, regardez, Et soyez saisis d'étonnement, d'épouvante! Car je vais faire en vos jours une oeuvre, Que vous ne croiriez pas si on la racontait.
6 Voici, je vais susciter les Chaldéens, Peuple furibond et impétueux, Qui traverse de vastes étendues de pays, Pour s'emparer de demeures qui ne sont pas à lui.
7 Il est terrible et formidable; De lui seul viennent son droit et sa grandeur.
8 Ses chevaux sont plus rapides que les léopards, Plus agiles que les loups du soir, Et ses cavaliers s'avancent avec orgueil; Ses cavaliers arrivent de loin, Ils volent comme l'aigle qui fond sur sa proie.
9 Tout ce peuple vient pour se livrer au pillage; Ses regards avides se portent en avant, Et il assemble des prisonniers comme du sable.
10 Il se moque des rois, Et les princes font l'objet de ses railleries; Il se rit de toutes les forteresses, Il amoncelle de la terre, et il les prend.
11 Alors son ardeur redouble, Il poursuit sa marche, et il se rend coupable. Sa force à lui, voilà son dieu!
12 N'es-tu pas de toute éternité, Éternel, mon Dieu, mon Saint? Nous ne mourrons pas! O Éternel, tu as établi ce peuple pour exercer tes jugements; O mon rocher, tu l'as suscité pour infliger tes châtiments.
13 Tes yeux sont trop purs pour voir le mal, Et tu ne peux pas regarder l'iniquité. Pourquoi regarderais-tu les perfides, et te tairais-tu, Quand le méchant dévore celui qui est plus juste que lui?
14 Traiterais-tu l'homme comme les poissons de la mer, Comme le reptile qui n'a point de maître?
15 Il les fait tous monter avec l'hameçon, Il les attire dans son filet, Il les assemble dans ses rets: Aussi est-il dans la joie et dans l'allégresse.
16 C'est pourquoi il sacrifie à son filet, Il offre de l'encens à ses rets; Car par eux sa portion est grasse, Et sa nourriture succulente.
17 Videra-t-il pour cela son filet, Et toujours égorgera-t-il sans pitié les nations?
Habakkuk 1
Expanded Bible
1 This is the ·message [oracle; burden] Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk Complains
2 Lord, how long must I ·ask [cry; call] for help
and you ·ignore [do not hear] me?
I cry out to you ·about violence [or “Violence!”],
but you do not ·save [rescue] us!
3 Why do you make me see ·wrong things [evil; iniquity; injustice]
and make me look at ·trouble [wrongdoing]?
·People are destroying things and hurting others [L Destruction and violence are] in front of me;
·they are arguing and fighting [L strife and conflict arise].
4 So the ·teachings [law; instruction; L Torah] are ·weak [paralyzed],
and justice never comes.
Evil people ·gain while good people lose [L surround/hem in the righteous];
·the judges no longer make fair decisions [L so justice is perverted].
The Lord Answers
5 “Look at the nations!
Watch them and be ·amazed and shocked [utterly astounded].
I will do something in your ·lifetime [L days]
that you won’t believe even when you are told about it.
6 I will ·use [raise up] the ·Babylonians [L Chaldeans],
those ·cruel [ruthless; bitter] and ·wild [impetuous; hasty] people
who march across the earth
and ·take lands [L seize dwellings] that don’t belong to them.
7 They scare and ·frighten [terrify] people.
·They do what they want to do
and are good only to themselves [L Their justice/judgment and dignity proceed from themselves].
8 Their horses are faster than leopards
and ·quicker [fiercer] than wolves ·at sunset [L of the evening].
Their ·horse soldiers [cavalry] attack quickly;
they come from places far away.
They attack quickly, like an ·eagle [or vulture] ·swooping down for food [swift to devour].
9 They all come ·to fight [L for violence].
·Nothing can stop them [or …a horde moving like an east wind; or …their faces set forward].
Their prisoners are ·as many as the grains of [L like] sand.
10 They ·laugh at [mock] kings
and make fun of rulers.
They laugh at all the ·strong, walled [fortified] cities
and build ·dirt piles to the top of the walls [earthen siege ramps] to capture them.
11 Then they ·leave [sweep by] like the wind and move on.
They are guilty of ·worshiping their own strength [making their strength their god; or ascribing their strength to their gods].”
Habakkuk Complains Again
12 Lord, ·you live forever [L are you not from everlasting…?],
my God, my holy God.
We will not die.
Lord, you ·have chosen the Babylonians to punish people [appointed them for judgment];
our Rock [Ps. 61:2], you picked them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too ·good [pure] to look at evil;
you cannot ·stand to see [tolerate; look on] those who do wrong.
So how can you put up with those ·evil [treacherous] people?
How can you be quiet when the wicked swallow up people who are ·better [more righteous] than they are?
14 You ·treat [or made] people like fish in the sea,
like sea animals without a ·leader [ruler].
15 ·The enemy [L He] brings them in with hooks.
He catches them in his net
and ·drags [gathers] them in his ·fishnet [dragnet].
So he rejoices and ·sings for joy [is glad].
16 The enemy offers sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to ·worship it [L his dragnet],
because it lets him live ·like the rich [in luxury]
and enjoy ·the best [or plentiful] food.
17 Will he keep on ·taking riches with [L emptying] his net?
Will he go on destroying ·people [nations] without showing mercy?
Habakkuk 1
New King James Version
The Prophet Questions God’s Judgments
1 The [a]burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.
The Prophet’s Question
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry,
(A)And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, (B)“Violence!”
And You will (C)not save.
3 Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see [b]trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
4 Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the (D)wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
The Lord’s Reply
5 “Look(E) among the nations and watch—
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
6 For indeed I am (F)raising up the Chaldeans,
A bitter and hasty (G)nation
Which marches through the breadth of the earth,
To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
7 They are terrible and dreadful;
Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
8 Their horses also are (H)swifter than leopards,
And more fierce than evening wolves.
Their [c]chargers [d]charge ahead;
Their cavalry comes from afar;
They fly as the (I)eagle that hastens to eat.
9 “They all come for violence;
Their faces are set like the east wind.
They gather captives like sand.
10 They scoff at kings,
And princes are scorned by them.
They deride every stronghold,
For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
11 Then his [e]mind changes, and he transgresses;
He commits offense,
(J)Ascribing this power to his god.”
The Prophet’s Second Question
12 Are You not (K)from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, (L)You have appointed them for judgment;
O Rock, You have marked them for (M)correction.
13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,
And cannot look on wickedness.
Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours
A person more righteous than he?
14 Why do You make men like fish of the sea,
Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?
15 They take up all of them with a hook,
They catch them in their net,
And gather them in their dragnet.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16 Therefore (N)they sacrifice to their net,
And burn incense to their dragnet;
Because by them their share is [f]sumptuous
And their food plentiful.
17 Shall they therefore empty their net,
And continue to slay nations without pity?
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:1 oracle, prophecy
- Habakkuk 1:3 Or toil
- Habakkuk 1:8 Lit. horsemen
- Habakkuk 1:8 Lit. spring about
- Habakkuk 1:11 Lit. spirit or wind
- Habakkuk 1:16 Lit. fat
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
