² How long must I cry, O Eternal One,
    and get no answer from You?
Even when I yell to You, “Violence is all around!”
    You do nothing to save those in distress.
³ Why do You force me to see these atrocities?
    Why do You make me watch such wickedness?
Disaster and violence, conflict and controversy are raging all around me.
⁴ Your law is powerless to stop this; injustice prevails.
    The depraved surround the innocent, and justice is perverted.

2 I will take my place at the watchtower.
    I will stand at my post and watch.
I will watch and see what He says to me.
    I need to think about how I should respond to Him
When He gets back to me with His answer.

Eternal One (to Habakkuk): ² Write down this vision.
        Write it clearly on tablets, so that anyone who reads it may run.
³     For the vision points ahead to a time I have appointed;
        it testifies regarding the end, and it will not lie.
    Even if there is a delay, wait for it.
        It is coming and will come without delay.^[a]

⁴ So I wrote, “Look how pompous he is!
    Something is not right in his soul; he is not honest and just.
But the righteous one will live by his faithfulness.”^[b]