(A)The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

Habakkuk's Complaint

O Lord, (B)how long shall I cry for help,
    and you will not hear?
Or cry to you (C)“Violence!”
    and you will not save?
(D)Why do you make me see iniquity,
    and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction (E)and violence are before me;
    strife and contention arise.
(F)So the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never goes forth.
(G)For the wicked surround the righteous;
    so justice goes forth perverted.

The Lord's Answer

(H)“Look among the nations, and see;
    wonder and be astounded.
(I)For I am doing a work in your days
    that you would not believe if told.
For behold, (J)I am raising up the Chaldeans,
    that bitter and hasty nation,
(K)who march through the breadth of the earth,
    (L)to seize dwellings not their own.
They are dreaded and fearsome;
    (M)their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
(N)Their horses are swifter than leopards,
    more fierce than (O)the evening wolves;
    their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
    (P)they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
They all come (Q)for violence,
    all their faces forward.
    They gather captives (R)like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
    and at rulers they laugh.
(S)They laugh at every fortress,
    for (T)they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
    (U)guilty men, (V)whose own might is their god!”

Habakkuk's Second Complaint

12 Are you not (W)from everlasting,
    O Lord my God, my Holy One?
    (X)We shall not die.
O Lord, (Y)you have ordained them as a judgment,
    and you, O (Z)Rock, have established them for reproof.
13 You who are (AA)of purer eyes than to see evil
    and cannot look at wrong,
(AB)why do you idly look at traitors
    and (AC)remain silent when the wicked swallows up
    the man more righteous than he?
14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
    like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 (AD)He[a] brings all of them up (AE)with a hook;
    he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
    so he rejoices and is glad.
16 (AF)Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,[b]
    and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
    (AG)and mercilessly killing nations forever?

I will (AH)take my stand at my watchpost
    and station myself on the tower,
and (AI)look out to see (AJ)what he will say to me,
    and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

And the Lord answered me:

(AK)“Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
For still (AL)the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, (AM)wait for it;
    (AN)it will surely come; it will not delay.

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but (AO)the righteous shall live by his faith.[c]

“Moreover, wine[d] is (AP)a traitor,
    an arrogant man who is never at rest.[e]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
    like death (AQ)he has never enough.
(AR)He gathers for himself all nations
    and collects as his own all peoples.”

Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:15 That is, the wicked foe
  2. Habakkuk 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat
  3. Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
  4. Habakkuk 2:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth
  5. Habakkuk 2:5 The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain

The Seven Seals

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of (A)the seven seals, and I heard (B)one of the four living creatures say (C)with a voice like thunder, (D)“Come!” And I looked, and behold, (E)a white horse! And (F)its rider had a bow, and (G)a crown was given to him, and he came out (H)conquering, and to conquer.

When he opened the second seal, I heard (I)the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, (J)bright red. Its rider was permitted (K)to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the (L)third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, (M)a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, (N)“A quart[a] of wheat for a denarius,[b] and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and (O)do not harm the oil and wine!”

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of (P)the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, (Q)a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill (R)with sword and with famine and with pestilence and (S)by wild beasts of the earth.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under (T)the altar (U)the souls of those who had been slain (V)for the word of God and for (W)the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, (X)holy and true, (Y)how long (Z)before you will judge and (AA)avenge our blood on (AB)those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given (AC)a white robe and (AD)told to rest a little longer, (AE)until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers[c] (AF)should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, (AG)there was a great earthquake, and (AH)the sun became black as (AI)sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and (AJ)the stars of the sky fell to the earth (AK)as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 (AL)The sky vanished (AM)like a scroll that is being rolled up, and (AN)every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave[d] and free, (AO)hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 (AP)calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of (AQ)him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for (AR)the great day of their wrath has come, and (AS)who can stand?”

The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back (AT)the four winds of the earth, (AU)that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending (AV)from the rising of the sun, with (AW)the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, (AX)“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God (AY)on their foreheads.” And (AZ)I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

After this I looked, and behold, (BA)a great multitude that no one could number, (BB)from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, (BC)clothed in white robes, with (BD)palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, (BE)“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and (BF)the four living creatures, and they (BG)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 (BH)saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, (BI)clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of (BJ)the great tribulation. (BK)They have washed their robes and (BL)made them white (BM)in the blood of the Lamb.

15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and (BN)serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne (BO)will shelter them with his presence.
16 (BP)They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
    (BQ)the sun shall not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne (BR)will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of (BS)living water,
and (BT)God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 6:6 Greek choinix, a dry measure equal to about a quart
  2. Revelation 6:6 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
  3. Revelation 6:11 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
  4. Revelation 6:15 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

My Rock and My Fortress

Of David.

144 Blessed be the Lord, my (A)rock,
    (B)who trains my hands for war,
    and my fingers for battle;
he is my (C)steadfast love and my (D)fortress,
    my (E)stronghold and my deliverer,
my (F)shield and he in whom I take refuge,
    who (G)subdues peoples[a] under me.

O Lord, (H)what is man that you (I)regard him,
    or the son of man that you think of him?
(J)Man is like a breath;
    his days are like (K)a passing (L)shadow.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 144:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Dead Sea Scroll, Jerome, Syriac, Aquila; most Hebrew manuscripts subdues my people

32 If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
    or if you have been devising evil,
    (A)put your hand on your mouth.
33 For pressing milk produces curds,
    pressing the nose produces blood,
    and pressing anger produces strife.

Read full chapter

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