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12 Are you not from of old,
    O Lord my God, my Holy One?
    You[a] shall not die.
O Lord, you have marked them for judgment,
    and you, O Rock, have established them for punishment.(A)
13 Your eyes are too pure to behold evil,
    and you cannot look on wrongdoing;
why do you look on the treacherous
    and are silent when the wicked swallow
    those more righteous than they?(B)
14 You have made people like the fish of the sea,
    like crawling things that have no ruler.(C)

15 He brings all of them up with a hook;
    he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his seine,
    so he rejoices and exults.(D)
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and makes offerings to his seine,
for by them his portion is lavish,
    and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
    and destroying nations without mercy?(E)

God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint

I will stand at my watchpost
    and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me
    and what he[b] will answer concerning my complaint.(F)

Footnotes

  1. 1.12 Or We
  2. 2.1 Syr: Heb I

The Prophet’s Second Complaint

12 “Haven’t you existed forever,
    Lord my God, my Holy One?
        We won’t die!
Lord, you’ve prepared them[a] for judgment;
    Rock, you’ve sentenced them[b] to correction.
13 Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil;
    and you cannot tolerate wickedness.
So why do you tolerate the treacherous?
    And why do you stay silent
        while the wicked devour those who are more righteous than they are?

14 “You have fashioned mankind like fish in the ocean,
    like creeping things that have no ruler.
15 The adversary[c] captures them with a hook,
    gathering them up in a fishing net.
He collects them with a dragnet,
    rejoicing and gloating over his catch.[d]
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his fishing net,
    and burns incense in the presence of his dragnet,
because by them his assets increase
    and he gets plenty of food.
17 Is he to continue to empty his fishing net?
    Will he ever stop killing entire[e] nations without mercy?”

Habakkuk Waits for God’s Answer

“I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on a tower.
I will wait and see what the Lord[f] will say about me
    and what I[g] will answer when he reprimands me.[h]

Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:12 I.e. the Babylonian invaders
  2. Habakkuk 1:12 I.e. the Babylonian invaders
  3. Habakkuk 1:15 I.e. the Babylonian invaders
  4. Habakkuk 1:15 The Heb. lacks over his catch
  5. Habakkuk 1:17 The Heb. lacks entire
  6. Habakkuk 2:1 The Heb. lacks the Lord
  7. Habakkuk 2:1 Syr he
  8. Habakkuk 2:1 Lit. answer at my reprimand

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?(A)
    My God, my Holy One,(B) you[a] will never die.(C)
You, Lord, have appointed(D) them to execute judgment;
    you, my Rock,(E) have ordained them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pure(F) to look on evil;
    you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.(G)
Why then do you tolerate(H) the treacherous?(I)
    Why are you silent while the wicked
    swallow up those more righteous than themselves?(J)
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
    like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The wicked(K) foe pulls all of them up with hooks,(L)
    he catches them in his net,(M)
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
    and so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and burns incense(N) 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?(O)

I will stand at my watch(P)
    and station myself on the ramparts;(Q)
I will look to see what he will say(R) to me,
    and what answer I am to give to this complaint.[b](S)

Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we
  2. Habakkuk 2:1 Or and what to answer when I am rebuked