Add parallel Print Page Options

Oracle révélé à Habakuk, le prophète.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Il est terrible et formidable; De lui seul viennent son droit et sa grandeur.

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.

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?

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

(A)The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

Habakkuk's Complaint

O Lord, (B)how long shall I cry for help,
    and you will not hear?
Or cry to you (C)“Violence!”
    and you will not save?
(D)Why do you make me see iniquity,
    and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction (E)and violence are before me;
    strife and contention arise.
(F)So the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never goes forth.
(G)For the wicked surround the righteous;
    so justice goes forth perverted.

The Lord's Answer

(H)“Look among the nations, and see;
    wonder and be astounded.
(I)For I am doing a work in your days
    that you would not believe if told.
For behold, (J)I am raising up the Chaldeans,
    that bitter and hasty nation,
(K)who march through the breadth of the earth,
    (L)to seize dwellings not their own.
They are dreaded and fearsome;
    (M)their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
(N)Their horses are swifter than leopards,
    more fierce than (O)the evening wolves;
    their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
    (P)they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
They all come (Q)for violence,
    all their faces forward.
    They gather captives (R)like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
    and at rulers they laugh.
(S)They laugh at every fortress,
    for (T)they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
    (U)guilty men, (V)whose own might is their god!”

Habakkuk's Second Complaint

12 Are you not (W)from everlasting,
    O Lord my God, my Holy One?
    (X)We shall not die.
O Lord, (Y)you have ordained them as a judgment,
    and you, O (Z)Rock, have established them for reproof.
13 You who are (AA)of purer eyes than to see evil
    and cannot look at wrong,
(AB)why do you idly look at traitors
    and (AC)remain silent when the wicked swallows up
    the man more righteous than he?
14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
    like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 (AD)He[a] brings all of them up (AE)with a hook;
    he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
    so he rejoices and is glad.
16 (AF)Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,[b]
    and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
    (AG)and mercilessly killing nations forever?

Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:15 That is, the wicked foe
  2. Habakkuk 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat