Habakkuk 1:12-2:20
English Standard Version
Habakkuk's Second Complaint
12 Are you not (A)from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
(B)We shall not die.
O Lord, (C)you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O (D)Rock, have established them for reproof.
13 You who are (E)of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
(F)why do you idly look at traitors
and (G)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 (H)He[a] brings all of them up (I)with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and is glad.
16 (J)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
(K)and mercilessly killing nations forever?
2 I will (L)take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and (M)look out to see (N)what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith
2 And the Lord answered me:
(O)“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still (P)the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, (Q)wait for it;
(R)it will surely come; it will not delay.
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but (S)the righteous shall live by his faith.[c]
5 “Moreover, wine[d] is (T)a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.[e]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death (U)he has never enough.
(V)He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”
Woe to the Chaldeans
6 Shall not all these (W)take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,
(X)“Woe to him (Y)who heaps up what is not his own—
for (Z)how long?—
and (AA)loads himself with pledges!”
7 (AB)Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be spoil for them.
8 (AC)Because you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
(AD)for the blood of man and (AE)violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
9 (AF)“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
(AG)to (AH)set his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame for your house
(AI)by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11 For (AJ)the stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 (AK)“Woe to him (AL)who builds a town with blood
and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that (AM)peoples labor merely for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 (AN)For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of (AO)the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
15 (AP)“Woe to him (AQ)who makes his neighbors drink—
you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
in order to gaze (AR)at their nakedness!
16 You will have your fill (AS)of shame instead of glory.
(AT)Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
(AU)The cup in the Lord's right hand
will come around to you,
and (AV)utter shame will come upon your glory!
17 (AW)The violence (AX)done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
(AY)for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
18 (AZ)“What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, (BA)a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes (BB)speechless idols!
19 (BC)Woe to him (BD)who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and (BE)there is no breath at all in it.
20 But (BF)the Lord is in his holy temple;
(BG)let all the earth keep silence before him.”
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:15 That is, the wicked foe
- Habakkuk 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat
- Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
- Habakkuk 2:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth
- Habakkuk 2:5 The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain
Habakkuk 1:12-2:20
King James Version
12 Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
2 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
2 And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!
7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.
11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
16 Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
