Habakkuk 1
Christian Standard Bible
1 The pronouncement(A) that the prophet Habakkuk saw.(B)
Habakkuk’s First Prayer
2 How long,(C) Lord, must I call for help(D)
and you do not listen
or cry out to you about violence(E)
and you do not save?
3 Why do you force me to look at injustice?(F)
Why do you tolerate[a] wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
4 This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict(G) the righteous;
therefore, justice(H) comes out perverted.
God’s First Answer
5 Look at the nations[b](I) and observe(J)—
be utterly astounded!(K)
For I am doing something in your days
that you will not believe(L)
when you hear about it.(M)
6 Look! I am raising up(N) the Chaldeans,[c]
that bitter,(O) impetuous nation
that marches across the earth’s open spaces
to seize territories not its own.
7 They are fierce(P) and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter(Q) than leopards(R)
and more fierce[d] than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead;
their horsemen come from distant lands.
They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.(S)
9 All of them come to do violence;
their faces(T) are set in determination.[e]
They gather(U) prisoners like sand.(V)
10 They mock(W) kings,
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh(X) at every fortress
and build siege ramps to capture(Y) it.
11 Then they sweep(Z) by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty;[f] their strength is their god.
Habakkuk’s Second Prayer
12 Are you not from eternity, Lord my God?(AA)
My Holy One,(AB) you[g] will not die.
Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment;
my Rock,(AC) you destined them to punish us.
13 Your eyes(AD) are too pure(AE) to look on evil,
and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous?(AF)
Why are you silent
while one[h] who is wicked swallows up
one[i] who is more righteous than himself?
14 You have made mankind
like the fish of the sea,(AG)
like marine creatures that have no ruler.
15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet,(AH)
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.
16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful.(AI)
17 Will they therefore empty their net
and continually slaughter nations without mercy?
2 Corinthians 7
Christian Standard Bible
7 So then, dear friends, since we have these promises,(A) let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit,(B) bringing holiness to completion[a] in the fear of God.(C)
Joy and Repentance
2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, corrupted(D) no one, taken advantage of no one. 3 I don’t say this to condemn you, since I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am very frank with you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions.
5 In fact, when we came into Macedonia,(E) we[b] had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts(F) on the outside, fears(G) within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast,(H) comforted us by the arrival of Titus, 7 and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal(I) for me, so that I rejoiced even more. 8 For even if I grieved you with my letter,(J) I don’t regret it. And if I regretted it—since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a while— 9 I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.(K) 11 For consider how much diligence this very thing—this grieving as God wills—has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice! In every way you showed yourselves to be pure(L) in this matter. 12 So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your devotion to us might be made plain to you in the sight of God. 13 For this reason we have been comforted.
In addition to our own comfort, we rejoiced even more over the joy Titus(M) had, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you. 14 For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been disappointed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth,(N) so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth. 15 And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you.
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