Habakkuk 1-3 New American Standard Bible

Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah

1 The ^(A)pronouncement which Habakkuk the prophet saw:

²^(B)How long, Lord, have I called for help,
And You do not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do ^(C)not save.
³Why do You make me ^(D)see disaster,
And make me look at destitution?
Yes, ^(E)devastation and violence are before me;
^(F)Strife exists and contention arises.
⁴Therefore the ^(G)Law ^[a]is ignored,
And justice ^[b]is never upheld.
For the wicked ^(H)surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out ^(I)confused.

⁵“^(J)Look among the nations! Watch!
Be horrified! ^(K)Be frightened speechless!
For I am accomplishing ^(L)a work in your days—
You would not believe it even if ^[c]you were told!
⁶For behold, I am ^(M)raising up the Chaldeans,
That ^[d]grim and impetuous people
Who march ^[e]throughout the earth,
To ^(N)take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs.
⁷They are terrifying and ^(O)feared;
Their ^(P)justice and ^[f]authority ^[g]originate with themselves.
⁸Their ^(Q)horses are faster than leopards,
And quicker than ^(R)wolves in the evening.
Their ^[h]horsemen charge along,
Their ^[i]horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an ^(S)eagle ^[j]swooping down to devour.
⁹All of them come for violence.
^[k]Their horde of ^(T)faces moves forward.
They gather captives like sand.
¹⁰They ^(U)make fun of kings,
And dignitaries are an object of laughter to them.
They ^(V)laugh at every fortress,
Then ^(W)heap up dirt and ^[l]capture it.
¹¹Then they fly along 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)time everlasting,
Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, Lord, have ^(AB)appointed them to deliver judgment;
And You, O ^(AC)Rock, have destined them to punish.
¹³Your eyes are too ^(AD)pure to look at evil,
And You cannot look at harm favorably.
Why do You ^(AE)look favorably
At 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 people like the fish of the sea,
Like crawling things that have no 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 joyful.
¹⁶Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And ^[m]burn incense to their fishing net,
Because through ^(AK)these things their ^[n]catch is ^[o]large,
And their food is ^[p]plentiful.
¹⁷Will they therefore empty their ^(AL)net,
And continually ^(AM)slay nations without sparing?

God Answers the Prophet

2 I will ^(AN)stand at my guard post
And station myself on the watchtower;
And I will ^(AO)keep watch to see ^(AP)what He will say to me,
And how I may reply ^[q]when I am reprimanded.
²Then the Lord answered me and said,
“^(AQ)Write down the vision
And inscribe it clearly on tablets,
So that one who ^[r]reads it may run.
³For the vision is yet for the ^(AR)appointed time;
It ^[s]hurries toward the goal and it will not ^[t]fail.
Though it delays, ^(AS)wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it ^(AT)will not delay long.

⁴“Behold, as for the ^(AU)impudent one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the ^(AV)righteous one will live by his ^[u]faith.
⁵Furthermore, ^(AW)wine betrays an ^(AX)arrogant man,
So that he does not ^(AY)achieve his objective.
He ^(AZ)enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all the nations
And collects to himself all the peoples.

⁶“Will all of these not ^(BA)take up a song of ridicule against him,
Even a saying and insinuations against him
And say, ‘^(BB)Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself ^[v]rich with debts!’
⁷Will ^[w]your creditors not ^(BC)rise up suddenly,
And those who ^[x]collect from you awaken?
Indeed, you will become plunder for them.
⁸Since you have ^(BD)looted many nations,
All the rest of the peoples will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and violence ^[y]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.

⁹“Woe to him who makes ^(BE)evil profit for his household,
To ^(BF)put his nest on high,
To be saved from the hand of catastrophe!
¹⁰You have planned a ^(BG)shameful thing for your house
By bringing many peoples to an end;
So you are ^(BH)sinning against yourself.
¹¹For the ^(BI)stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the ^[z]framework.

¹²“Woe to him who ^(BJ)builds a city with bloodshed,
And founds a town with ^[aa]violence!
¹³Is it not indeed from the Lord of armies
That peoples ^(BK)labor merely for fire,
And nations become weary for nothing?
¹⁴For the earth will be ^(BL)filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.

¹⁵“Woe to him who makes his neighbor drink;
^[ab]To you who mix in your venom even to make your neighbors drunk,
So as to look at their genitalia!
¹⁶You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
^(BM)Drink, you yourself, and ^[ac]expose your own foreskin!
The ^(BN)cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you,
And ^(BO)utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
¹⁷For the ^(BP)violence ^[ad]done to Lebanon will ^[ae]overwhelm you,
And the devastation of its animals ^[af]by which you terrified them,
^(BQ)Because of human bloodshed and ^(BR)violence ^[ag]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.

¹⁸“What ^(BS)benefit is a carved image when its maker has carved it,
Or a cast metal image, a ^(BT)teacher of falsehood?
For its maker ^(BU)trusts in his own handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols.
¹⁹Woe to him who ^(BV)says to a piece of wood, ‘^(BW)Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
That is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with ^(BX)gold and silver,
Yet there is ^(BY)no breath at all inside it.
²⁰But the ^(BZ)Lord is in His holy temple.
^[ah]Let all the earth ^(CA)be silent before Him.”

God’s People Saved

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to ^[ai]Shigionoth.

²Lord, I have ^(CB)heard ^[aj]the report about You, and ^[ak]I was ^(CC)afraid.
Lord, ^(CD)revive ^(CE)Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known.
In anger remember ^[al]^(CF)mercy.

³God comes from ^(CG)Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount ^(CH)Paran. Selah
His ^(CI)splendor covers the heavens,
And the ^(CJ)earth is full of His praise.
⁴His ^(CK)radiance is like the sunlight;
He has rays flashing from His hand,
And the hiding of His ^(CL)might is there.
⁵Before Him goes ^(CM)plague,
And ^(CN)plague comes forth ^[am]after Him.
⁶He stood and caused the earth to shudder;
He looked and ^(CO)caused the nations to jump.
Yes, the everlasting mountains were shattered,
The ancient hills ^[an]collapsed.
His paths are ^(CP)everlasting.
⁷I saw the tents of Cushan under ^(CQ)distress,
The tent curtains of the land of ^(CR)Midian were trembling.

⁸Did the Lord rage against the ^(CS)rivers,
Or was Your anger against the rivers,
Or was Your rage against the ^(CT)sea,
That You ^(CU)rode on Your horses,
On Your ^(CV)chariots of salvation?
⁹You removed Your ^(CW)bow from its holder,
The arrows of Your word were ^[ao]sworn. Selah
You ^(CX)divided the earth with rivers.
¹⁰The mountains saw You and quaked;
The downpour of waters swept by.
The deep ^(CY)raised its voice,
It lifted high its hands.
¹¹^(CZ)Sun and moon stood in their lofty places;
They went away at the ^(DA)light of Your arrows,
At the radiance of Your flashing spear.
¹²In indignation You ^(DB)marched through the earth;
In anger You ^[ap]^(DC)trampled the nations.
¹³You went forth for the ^(DD)salvation of Your people,
For the salvation of Your ^(DE)anointed.
You smashed the ^(DF)head of the house of evil
To uncover him from ^[aq]foot to neck. Selah
¹⁴You pierced with his ^(DG)own ^[ar]arrows
The head of his ^[as]leaders.
They ^(DH)stormed in to scatter ^[at]us;
Their arrogance was like those
Who ^(DI)devour the oppressed in secret.
¹⁵You ^(DJ)trampled on the sea with Your horses,
On the ^(DK)foam of many waters.

¹⁶I heard, and my ^[au]inner parts ^(DL)trembled;
At the sound, my lips quivered.
Decay enters my ^(DM)bones,
And in my place I tremble;
Because I ^[av]must ^(DN)wait quietly for the day of distress,
^[aw]For the ^(DO)people to arise who will attack us.
¹⁷Even if the ^(DP)fig tree does not blossom,
And there is no ^[ax]fruit on the vines,
If the yield of the ^(DQ)olive fails,
And the fields produce no food,
Even if the ^(DR)flock disappears from the fold,
And there are ^(DS)no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸Yet I will ^(DT)triumph in the Lord,
I will ^(DU)rejoice in the ^(DV)God of my salvation.
¹⁹The Lord ^[ay]God is my ^(DW)strength,
And ^(DX)He has made my feet like deer’s feet,
And has me walk on my ^(DY)high places.

For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.

Footnotes

Habakkuk 1:4 Or is ineffective; lit turns cold
Habakkuk 1:4 Lit never goes forth
Habakkuk 1:5 Lit it
Habakkuk 1:6 Lit bitter
Habakkuk 1:6 Lit the breadth of
Habakkuk 1:7 Lit sovereignty
Habakkuk 1:7 Lit proceed from
Habakkuk 1:8 Or horses
Habakkuk 1:8 Or horses
Habakkuk 1:8 Lit hurrying to
Habakkuk 1:9 Lit The totality of
Habakkuk 1:10 Or overthrow
Habakkuk 1:16 Or sacrifice
Habakkuk 1:16 Lit portion
Habakkuk 1:16 Lit fat; or plentiful
Habakkuk 1:16 Lit fat
Habakkuk 2:1 Lit upon my reprimand
Habakkuk 2:2 Or is to proclaim; or reads it may read it fluently
Habakkuk 2:3 Lit pants
Habakkuk 2:3 Or lie
Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
Habakkuk 2:6 Lit heavy
Habakkuk 2:7 Lit those who bite you
Habakkuk 2:7 Lit violently shake you
Habakkuk 2:8 Lit of the land
Habakkuk 2:11 Lit wood
Habakkuk 2:12 Lit injustice
Habakkuk 2:15 Another reading is From the cup of your venom
Habakkuk 2:16 Lit show yourself uncircumcised; DSS and ancient versions stagger
Habakkuk 2:17 Lit of Lebanon
Habakkuk 2:17 Lit cover
Habakkuk 2:17 Lit which shattered them
Habakkuk 2:17 Lit of the land
Habakkuk 2:20 Lit Hush before Him, all the earth
Habakkuk 3:1 Perhaps a highly emotional poetic form
Habakkuk 3:2 Or Your report
Habakkuk 3:2 Or I am in awe, O Lord, of Your work; In the midst of the years revive it,
Habakkuk 3:2 Or compassion
Habakkuk 3:5 Lit at His feet
Habakkuk 3:6 Lit cowered
Habakkuk 3:9 Lit oaths
Habakkuk 3:12 Or threshed
Habakkuk 3:13 Lit base
Habakkuk 3:14 Lit shafts
Habakkuk 3:14 Or villagers
Habakkuk 3:14 Lit me
Habakkuk 3:16 Lit belly
Habakkuk 3:16 Or sigh for
Habakkuk 3:16 Or To come upon the people who will
Habakkuk 3:17 Lit produce
Habakkuk 3:19 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord