Habakkuk 1:2-3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Prophet’s Complaint
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?(A)
3 Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.(B)
Habakkuk 1:2-3
Contemporary English Version
Habakkuk Complains to the Lord
2 Our Lord, how long must I beg
for your help
before you listen?
How long before you save us
from all this violence?
3 Why do you make me watch
such terrible injustice?
Why do you allow violence,
lawlessness, crime, and cruelty
to spread everywhere?
Habakkuk 2:2-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.(A)
3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.(B)
4 Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faithfulness.(C)
Habakkuk 2:2-4
Contemporary English Version
2 Then the Lord told me:
“I will give you my message
in the form of a vision.
Write it clearly enough
to be read at a glance.
3 (A) At the time I have decided,
my words will come true.
You can trust what I say
about the future.
It may take a long time,
but keep on waiting—
it will happen!
4 (B) “I, the Lord, refuse to accept
anyone who is proud.
Only those who live by faith
are acceptable to me.”[a]
Footnotes
- 2.4 Only … me: Or “But those who are acceptable to me will live because of their faithfulness.”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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