Habakkuk 1:1-2:5
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?
Habakkuk Waits for God’s Response
2 I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.(AJ)
I will watch to see what he will say to me(AK)
and what I should[j] reply about my complaint.
God’s Second Answer
2 The Lord answered me:
Write down this vision;(AL)
clearly inscribe it on tablets
so one may easily read it.[k]
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time;(AM)
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.(AN)
4 Look, his ego is inflated;[l]
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.[m](AO)
5 Moreover, wine[n] betrays;
an arrogant man is never at rest.[o]
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
and like Death he is never satisfied.(AP)
He gathers all the nations to himself;(AQ)
he collects all the peoples for himself.
Footnotes
- 1:3 Lit observe, also in v. 13
- 1:5 DSS, LXX, Syr read Look, you treacherous people
- 1:6 = the Babylonians
- 1:8 Or and quicker
- 1:9 Hb obscure
- 1:11 Or wind, and transgress and incur guilt
- 1:12 Alt Hb tradition reads we
- 1:13 = Babylon
- 1:13 = Judah
- 2:1 Syr reads what he will
- 2:2 Lit one who reads in it may run
- 2:4 Hb obscure
- 2:4 Or faithfulness
- 2:5 DSS read wealth
- 2:5 Or man does not endure; Hb obscure
Revelation 6-7
Christian Standard Bible
The First Seal on the Scroll
6 Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven[a] seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder,(A) “Come!” 2 I looked, and there was a white horse.(B) Its rider held a bow;(C) a crown(D) was given to him, and he went out as a conqueror in order to conquer.[b]
The Second Seal
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse went out, a fiery red one,(E) and its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.(F)
The Third Seal
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and there was a black horse.(G) Its rider held a set of scales in his hand.(H) 6 Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius,[c] and three quarts of barley for a denarius,(I) but do not harm the oil and the wine.”(J)
The Fourth Seal
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and there was a pale green[d] horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following after him.(K) They were[e] given authority(L) over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.(M)
The Fifth Seal
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had given.[f](N) 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “Lord,[g] the one who is holy and true,(O) how long until you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?(P)” 11 So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been.
The Sixth Seal
12 Then I saw him open[h] the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred;(Q) the sun turned black like sackcloth(R) made of hair; the entire moon[i] became like blood;(S) 13 the stars[j] of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; 14 the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up;(T) and every mountain and island was moved from its place.(U)
15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.(V) 16 And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us(W) from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of their[k] wrath has come! And who is able to stand?” (X)
The Sealed of Israel
7 After this I saw four angels(Y) standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth(Z) so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel rising up from the east,(AA) who had the seal of the living God.(AB) He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea, 3 “Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees(AC) until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.”(AD) 4 And I heard the number of the sealed:
144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites:(AE)
5 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.
A Multitude from the Great Tribulation
9 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language,(AF) which no one could number,(AG) standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.(AH) 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
Salvation belongs to our God,(AI)
who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!
11 All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,
Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and strength
be to our God forever and ever.(AJ) Amen.
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?”
14 I said to him, “Sir,[l] you know.”
Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.(AK) They washed their robes and made them white(AL) in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and they serve him day and night(AM) in his temple.(AN)
The one seated on the throne will shelter[m] them:(AO)
16 They will no longer hunger;
they will no longer thirst;
the sun will no longer strike them,
nor will any scorching heat.(AP)
17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne
will shepherd them;(AQ)
he will guide them to springs of the waters of life,(AR)
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.(AS)
Footnotes
- 6:1 Other mss omit seven
- 6:2 Or went out conquering and in order to conquer
- 6:6 A denarius = one day’s wage
- 6:8 Or a greenish gray
- 6:8 Other mss read He was
- 6:9 Other mss add about the Lamb
- 6:10 Or “Master
- 6:12 Or I saw when he opened
- 6:12 Or the full moon
- 6:13 Perhaps meteors
- 6:17 Other mss read his
- 7:14 Or “My lord
- 7:15 Or will spread his tent over
Psalm 144:1-4
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 144
A King’s Prayer
Of David.
1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock(A)
who trains my hands for battle
and my fingers for warfare.(B)
2 He is my faithful love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer.
He is my shield,(C) and I take refuge in him;(D)
he subdues my people[a] under me.(E)
3 Lord, what is a human that you care for him,
a son of man[b] that you think of him?(F)
4 A human is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.(G)
Proverbs 30:32-33
Christian Standard Bible
32 If you have been foolish by exalting yourself
or if you’ve been scheming,
put your hand over your mouth.(A)
33 For the churning of milk produces butter,
and twisting a nose draws blood,
and stirring up anger produces strife.(B)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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