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Profezia che il profeta Habacuc ebbe in visione.

Fino a quando, o Eterno, griderò, senza che tu mi dia ascolto? Io grido a te: «Violenza!», ma tu non salvi.

Perché mi fai vedere l'iniquità e mi fai guardare la perversità? Davanti a me stanno rapina e violenza, c'è contesa e cresce la discordia.

Perciò la legge non ha forza e la giustizia non riesce ad affermarsi, perché l'empio raggira il giusto e la giustizia ne esce pervertita.

«Guardate fra le nazioni e osservate, siate stupefatti e sbalorditi, perché io compirò ai vostri giorni un'opera, che voi non credereste, anche se ve la raccontassero.

Poiché ecco, io susciterò i Caldei, nazione feroce e impetuosa, che percorre la terra nella sua ampiezza per impadronirsi di abitazioni non sue.

E' terribile, spaventevole; il suo giudizio e la sua dignità procedono da lei stessa.

I suoi cavalli sono piú veloci dei leopardi, piú feroci dei lupi della sera. I suoi destrieri si spargono ovunque, i suoi destrieri vengono da lontano, volano come l'aquila che piomba sulla preda per divorare.

Vengono tutti per far violenza, le loro facce sono protese in avanti e ammassano prigionieri come la sabbia.

10 Egli si fa beffe dei re e i principi sono per lui oggetto di scherno; si ride di ogni fortezza, perché accumula un po' di terra e la prende.

11 Quindi avanza velocemente come il vento, passa oltre e si rende colpevole attribuendo questa sua forza al suo dio».

12 Non sei tu da sempre, o Eterno, mio DIO, il mio Santo? Noi non moriremo, o Eterno, perché tu l'hai designato per fare giustizia e l'hai stabilito, o Rocca, per castigare.

13 Tu hai gli occhi troppo puri per vedere il male e non puoi guardare l'iniquità. Perché stai a guardare quelli che agiscono con frode, e taci quando il malvagio divora chi è piú giusto di lui?

14 Perché rendi gli uomini come i pesci del mare e come i rettili che non hanno signore?

15 Egli li prende tutti all'amo, li cattura con la sua rete e li raccoglie con la sua rete da pesca; quindi si rallegra ed esulta.

16 Per questo fa sacrifici alla sua rete e brucia incenso alla sua rete da pesca, perché con essi la sua parte è ingente e il suo cibo abbondante.

17 Continuerà dunque egli a vuotare la sua rete e a massacrare le nazioni senza pietà?

The burden that Habacuc the prophet saw.

How long, O Lord, shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? shall I cry out to thee suffering violence, and thou wilt not save?

Why hast thou shewn me iniquity and grievance, to see rapine and injustice before me? and there is a judgment, but opposition is more powerful.

Therefore the law is torn in pieces, and judgment cometh not to the end: because the wicked prevaileth against the just, therefore wrong judgment goeth forth.

Behold ye among the nations, and see: wonder, and be astonished: for a work is done in your days, which no man will believe when it shall be told.

For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift nation, marching upon the breadth of the earth, to possess the dwelling places that are not their own.

They are dreadful, and terrible: from themselves shall their judgment, and their burden proceed.

Their horses are lighter than leopards, and swifter than evening wolves; and their horsemen shall be spread abroad: for their horsemen shall come from afar, they shall fly as an eagle that maketh haste to eat.

They shall all come to the prey, their face is like a burning wind: and they shall gather together captives as the sand.

10 And their prince shall triumph over kings, and princes shall be his laughingstock: and he shall laugh at every strong hold, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take it.

11 Then shall his spirit be changed, and he shall pass, and fall: this is his strength of his god.

12 Wast thou not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one, and we shall not die? Lord, thou hast appointed him for judgment: and made him strong for correction.

13 Thy eyes are too pure to behold evil, and thou canst not look on iniquity. Why lookest thou upon them that do unjust things, and holdest thy peace when the wicked devoureth the man that is more just than himself?

14 And thou wilt make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things that have no ruler.

15 He lifted up all them with his hook, he drew them in his drag, and gathered them into his net: for this he will be glad and rejoice.

16 Therefore will he offer victims to his drag, and he will sacrifice to his net: because through them his portion is made fat, and his meat dainty.

17 For this cause therefore he spreadeth his net, and will not spare continually to slay the nations.

The prophecy(A) that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

How 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)
Why 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.
Therefore 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

“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)
I 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)
They are a feared and dreaded people;(Q)
    they are a law to themselves
    and promote their own honor.
Their 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;
    they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes[b] advance like a desert wind
    and gather prisoners(T) like sand.
10 They mock kings
    and scoff at rulers.(U)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
    by building earthen ramps(V) they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind(W) and go on—
    guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”(X)

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

12 Lord, 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.
13 Your 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)
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
    like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The 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.
16 Therefore 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.
17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
    destroying nations without mercy?(AM)

Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
  2. Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  3. Habakkuk 1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we