Habakkuk 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint
2 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[a] will answer concerning my complaint.(A)
2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.(B)
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.(C)
4 Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faithfulness.(D)
5 Moreover, wealth[b] is treacherous;
the arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough.
They gather all nations for themselves
and collect all peoples as their own.(E)
The Woes of the Wicked
6 Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with mocking riddles, say about them,
“Alas for you who heap up what is not your own!”
How long will you load yourselves with goods taken in pledge?(F)
7 Will not your own creditors suddenly rise
and those who make you tremble wake up?
Then you will be plunder for them.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
all who survive of the peoples shall plunder you—
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.(G)
9 “Alas for you who get evil gain for your house,
setting your nest on high
to be safe from the reach of harm!”(H)
10 You have devised shame for your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.(I)
11 The very stones will cry out from the wall,
and the rafter will respond from the woodwork.
12 “Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed
and found a city on iniquity!”(J)
13 Is it not from the Lord of hosts
that peoples labor only to feed the flames
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 But the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.(K)
15 “Alas for you who make your neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath until they are drunk,
in order to gaze on their nakedness!”(L)
16 You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, you yourself, and stagger![c]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and shame will come upon your glory!(M)
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
the destruction of the animals will terrify you—[d]
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.(N)
18 What use is an idol
once its maker has shaped it—
a cast image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in what has been made,
though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!(O)
19 Alas for you who say to the wood, “Wake up!”
to silent stone, “Rouse yourself!”
Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated,
and there is no breath in it at all.(P)
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him!(Q)
Habakkuk 2
Common English Bible
2 I will take my post;
I will position myself on the fortress.
I will keep watch to see what the Lord says to me
and how he[a] will respond to my complaint.
The Lord responds
2 Then the Lord answered me and said,
Write a vision, and make it plain upon a tablet
so that a runner can read it.[b]
3 There is still a vision for the appointed time;
it testifies to the end;
it does not deceive.[c]
If it delays, wait for it;
for it is surely coming; it will not be late.
4 Some people’s desires are truly audacious;[d]
they don’t do the right thing.
But the righteous person will live honestly.
5 Moreover, wine betrays an arrogant man.
He doesn’t rest.
He opens his jaws[e] like the grave;[f]
like death, he is never satisfied.
He gathers all nations to himself
and collects all peoples for himself.
6 Won’t everyone tell parables about him
or mocking poems concerning him?
They will say:
Doom to the one who multiplies what doesn’t belong to him
and who increases his own burden.
How long?
7 Won’t they suddenly rise up to bite you?
Those who frighten you will awaken;
you will become plunder for them.
8 Since you yourself have plundered many nations,
all the rest of the peoples will plunder you
because of the human bloodshed
and the violence done to the earth,
to every village, and to all its inhabitants.
9 Doom to the one making evil gain for his own house,
for putting his own nest up high,
for delivering himself from the grasp of calamity.
10 You plan shame for your own house,
cutting off many peoples
and sinning against your own life.
11 A stone will cry out from a village wall,
and a tree branch will respond.
12 Pity the one building a city with bloodshed
and founding a village with injustice.
13 Look, isn’t this from the Lord of heavenly forces?
Peoples grow weary from making just enough fire;
nations become tired for nothing.[g]
14 But the land will be full of the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,
just as water covers the sea.
15 Doom to the one who makes his companions drunk,
pouring out your wrath in order to see them naked.[h]
16 You have drunk your fill of dishonor rather than glory.
So drink and stagger.[i]
The cup of the Lord’s strong hand will come around to you;
disgrace will engulf you.
17 Because of the violence done to Lebanon, he will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you,
as will human bloodshed and violence throughout the land, the villages,
and all their inhabitants.[j]
18 Of what value is an idol, when its potter carves it,
or a cast image that has been shaped?
It is a teacher of lies,
for the potter trusts the pottery, though it is incapable of speaking.
19 Doom to the one saying to the tree, “Wake up!”
or “Get up” to the silent stone.
Does it teach?
Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
but there is no breath within it.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before him.
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:1 Syr he; MT I
- Habakkuk 2:2 Or a reader can run with it
- Habakkuk 2:3 Heb uncertain; antecedants to pronouns in 2:3-6 are uncertain.
- Habakkuk 2:4 Heb uncertain
- Habakkuk 2:5 Or throat
- Habakkuk 2:5 Heb Sheol
- Habakkuk 2:13 Heb uncertain
- Habakkuk 2:15 Heb uncertain
- Habakkuk 2:16 DSS, LXX; MT uncircumcised
- Habakkuk 2:17 Heb uncertain
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.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible