Habakkuk 1:5-11
The Message
God Says, “Look!”
5-11 “Look around at the godless nations.
Look long and hard. Brace yourself for a shock.
Something’s about to take place
and you’re going to find it hard to believe.
I’m about to raise up Babylonians to punish you,
Babylonians, fierce and ferocious—
World-conquering Babylon,
grabbing up nations right and left,
A dreadful and terrible people,
making up its own rules as it goes.
Their horses run like the wind,
attack like bloodthirsty wolves.
A stampede of galloping horses
thunders out of nowhere.
They descend like vultures
circling in on carrion.
They’re out to kill. Death is on their minds.
They collect victims like squirrels gathering nuts.
They mock kings,
poke fun at generals,
Spit on forts,
and leave them in the dust.
They’ll all be blown away by the wind.
Brazen in sin, they call strength their god.”
Habakkuk 1:5-11
New International Version
The Lord’s Answer
5 “Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.(A)
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.(B)
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[a](C)
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth(D)
to seize dwellings not their own.(E)
7 They are a feared and dreaded people;(F)
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
8 Their horses are swifter(G) than leopards,
fiercer than wolves(H) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9 they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes[b] advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners(I) like sand.
10 They mock kings
and scoff at rulers.(J)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen ramps(K) they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind(L) and go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”(M)
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
- Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Habakkuk 1:5-11
The Message
God Says, “Look!”
5-11 “Look around at the godless nations.
Look long and hard. Brace yourself for a shock.
Something’s about to take place
and you’re going to find it hard to believe.
I’m about to raise up Babylonians to punish you,
Babylonians, fierce and ferocious—
World-conquering Babylon,
grabbing up nations right and left,
A dreadful and terrible people,
making up its own rules as it goes.
Their horses run like the wind,
attack like bloodthirsty wolves.
A stampede of galloping horses
thunders out of nowhere.
They descend like vultures
circling in on carrion.
They’re out to kill. Death is on their minds.
They collect victims like squirrels gathering nuts.
They mock kings,
poke fun at generals,
Spit on forts,
and leave them in the dust.
They’ll all be blown away by the wind.
Brazen in sin, they call strength their god.”
Habakkuk 1:5-7
New International Version
The Lord’s Answer
5 “Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.(A)
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.(B)
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[a](C)
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth(D)
to seize dwellings not their own.(E)
7 They are a feared and dreaded people;(F)
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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