Habakkuk 2
Legacy Standard Bible
The Righteous Will Live by His Faith
2 I will (A)stand on my guard post
And station myself on the fortification;
And I will (B)keep watch to see (C)what He will speak to me
And how I may respond [a]when I am reproved.
2 Then Yahweh answered me and said,
“(D)Write down the vision
And write it on tablets distinctly,
That [b]the one who [c]reads it may run.
3 For the vision is yet for the (E)appointed time;
It pants toward its end, and it will not [d]lie.
Though it tarries, (F)wait for it;
For it will certainly come; it (G)will not delay.
4 “Behold, as for the (H)proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the (I)righteous will live by his [e]faith.
5 And indeed, (J)wine betrays the (K)haughty man
So that he does not (L)stay at home.
He (M)enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all nations
And assembles to himself all peoples.
6 “Will not all of these (N)lift up a taunt-song against him,
Even satire and riddles against him
And say, ‘(O)Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself [f]rich with loans?’
7 Will not [g]your creditors (P)rise up suddenly,
And those who make you tremble awaken?
Indeed, you will become spoil for them.
8 Because you have (Q)taken many nations as spoil,
All that is left of the peoples will take you as spoil—
Because of human bloodshed and violence [h]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
9 “Woe to him who is greedy for (R)evil gain for his house
To (S)put his nest on high,
To be delivered from the hand of evil!
10 You have counseled a (T)shameful thing for your house
By cutting off many peoples;
So you are (U)sinning against your own soul.
11 Surely the (V)stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the [i]framework.
12 “Woe to him who (W)builds a city with bloodshed
And founds a town with injustice!
13 Is it not, behold, from Yahweh of hosts
That peoples (X)toil for fire,
And nations grow weary for nothing?
14 For the earth will be (Y)filled
With the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh,
As the waters cover the sea.
15 “Woe to you who make [j]your neighbors drink,
Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk
So as to look on their nakedness!
16 You will be filled with disgrace rather than glory.
Now you yourself (Z)drink and [k]expose your own nakedness.
The (AA)cup in Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you,
And (AB)utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
17 For the (AC)violence [l]done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the devastation of its beasts [m]by which you terrified them,
(AD)Because of human bloodshed and (AE)violence [n]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
18 “What (AF)profit is the graven image when its maker has engraved it,
Or a molten image, a (AG)teacher of [o]lies?
For its maker (AH)trusts in his own making
When he fashions speechless idols.
19 Woe to him who (AI)says to a piece of wood, ‘(AJ)Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
And that is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with (AK)gold and silver,
And there is (AL)no breath at all inside it.
20 But (AM)Yahweh is in His holy temple.
[p]Let all the earth (AN)be silent before Him.”
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:1 Lit upon my reproof
- Habakkuk 2:2 Or one may read it fluently
- Habakkuk 2:2 Or is to proclaim it
- Habakkuk 2:3 Or fail
- Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
- Habakkuk 2:6 Lit heavy
- Habakkuk 2:7 Lit those who bite you
- Habakkuk 2:8 Lit of the land
- Habakkuk 2:11 Lit wood
- Habakkuk 2:15 Lit his neighbor
- Habakkuk 2:16 As in DSS and ancient versions; or stagger; lit show yourself uncircumcised
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit of Lebanon
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit which terrified them
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit of the land
- Habakkuk 2:18 Lit a lie
- Habakkuk 2:20 Lit Hush before Him, all the earth
Habakkuk 2
Revised Standard Version
God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint
2 I will take my stand to watch,
and station myself on the tower,
and look forth to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
2 And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
make it plain upon tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still the vision awaits its time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seem slow, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
4 Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail,[a]
but the righteous shall live by his faith.[b]
5 Moreover, wine is treacherous;
the arrogant man shall not abide.[c]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations,
and collects as his own all peoples.”
The Woes of the Wicked
6 Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, in scoffing derision of him, and say,
“Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own—
for how long?—
and loads himself with pledges!”
7 Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be booty for them.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
for the blood of men and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell therein.
9 Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
to set his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame to your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11 For the stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 Woe to him who builds a town with blood,
and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that peoples labor only for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nought?
14 For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
15 Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink
of the cup of his wrath,[d] and makes them drunk,
to gaze on their shame!
16 You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, yourself, and stagger![e]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and shame will come upon your glory!
17 The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
the destruction of the beasts will terrify you,[f]
for the blood of men and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell therein.
18 What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, a teacher of lies?
For the workman trusts in his own creation
when he makes dumb idols!
19 Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a dumb stone, Arise!
Can this give revelation?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and there is no breath at all in it.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him.
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:4 Cn: Heb is puffed up
- Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
- Habakkuk 2:5 The Hebrew of these two lines is obscure
- Habakkuk 2:15 Cn: Heb joining to your wrath
- Habakkuk 2:16 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb be uncircumcised
- Habakkuk 2:17 Gk Syr: Heb them
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Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.