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Habakkuk 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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
New International Version
Habakkuk 2
New International Version
2 I will stand at my watch(A)
and station myself on the ramparts;(B)
I will look to see what he will say(C) to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.[a](D)
The Lord’s Answer
2 Then the Lord replied:
“Write(E) down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald[b] may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;(F)
it speaks of the end(G)
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait(H) for it;
it[c] will certainly come
and will not delay.(I)
4 “See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person(J) will live by his faithfulness[d](K)—
5 indeed, wine(L) betrays him;
he is arrogant(M) and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
and like death is never satisfied,(N)
he gathers to himself all the nations
and takes captive(O) all the peoples.
6 “Will not all of them taunt(P) him with ridicule and scorn, saying,
“‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
and makes himself wealthy by extortion!(Q)
How long must this go on?’
7 Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
Then you will become their prey.(R)
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.(S)
For you have shed human blood;(T)
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.(U)
9 “Woe to him who builds(V) his house by unjust gain,(W)
setting his nest(X) on high
to escape the clutches of ruin!
10 You have plotted the ruin(Y) of many peoples,
shaming(Z) your own house and forfeiting your life.
11 The stones(AA) of the wall will cry out,
and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed(AB)
and establishes a town by injustice!
13 Has not the Lord Almighty determined
that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,(AC)
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?(AD)
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory(AE) of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.(AF)
15 “Woe to him who gives drink(AG) to his neighbors,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
16 You will be filled with shame(AH) instead of glory.(AI)
Now it is your turn! Drink(AJ) and let your nakedness be exposed[e]!(AK)
The cup(AL) from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
17 The violence(AM) you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and your destruction of animals will terrify you.(AN)
For you have shed human blood;(AO)
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
18 “Of what value(AP) is an idol(AQ) carved by a craftsman?
Or an image(AR) that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.(AS)
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’(AT)
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;(AU)
there is no breath in it.”(AV)
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:1 Or and what to answer when I am rebuked
- Habakkuk 2:2 Or so that whoever reads it
- Habakkuk 2:3 Or Though he linger, wait for him; / he
- Habakkuk 2:4 Or faith
- Habakkuk 2:16 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint) and stagger
Habakkuk 2
King James Version
Habakkuk 2
King James Version
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.
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
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.
New International Version (NIV) 
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