Font Size
Habakkuk 1
Easy-to-Read Version
Habakkuk 1
Easy-to-Read Version
Habakkuk Complains to God
1 This is the message that was given to Habakkuk the prophet.
2 Lord, I continue to ask for help. When will you listen to me? I cried to you about the violence, but you did nothing! 3 People are stealing things and hurting others. They are arguing and fighting. Why do you make me look at these terrible things? 4 The law is weak and not fair to people. Evil people win their fights against good people. So the law is no longer fair, and justice does not win anymore.
The Lord Answers Habakkuk
5 “Look at the other nations! Watch them, and you will be amazed. I will do something in your lifetime that will amaze you. You would not believe it even if you were told about it. 6 I will make the Babylonians[a] a strong nation. They are cruel and powerful fighters. They will march across the earth. They will take houses and cities that don’t belong to them. 7 The Babylonians will scare the other people. They will do what they want to do and go where they want to go. 8 Their horses will be faster than leopards and more dangerous than wolves at sunset. Their horse soldiers will come from faraway places. They will attack their enemies quickly, like a hungry eagle swooping down from the sky. 9 The one thing they all want to do is fight. Their armies will march fast like the wind in the desert. And the Babylonian soldiers will take many prisoners—as many as the grains of sand.
10 “The Babylonian soldiers will laugh at the kings of other nations. Foreign rulers will be like jokes to them. The Babylonian soldiers will laugh at the cities with tall, strong walls. They will simply build dirt roads up to the top of the walls and easily defeat the cities. 11 Then they will leave like the wind and go on to fight against other places. The only thing the Babylonians worship is their own strength.”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12 Lord, you are the one who lives forever!
You are my holy God who never dies![b]
Lord, you created the Babylonians to do what must be done.
Our Rock, you created them to punish people.
13 Your eyes are too good to look at evil.
You cannot stand to see people doing wrong.
So why do you permit such evil?
How can you watch while the wicked destroy people who are so much better?
14 You made people like fish in the sea.
They are like little sea animals without a leader.
15 The enemy catches all of them with hooks and nets.
The enemy catches them in his net and drags them in,
and the enemy is very happy with what he caught.
16 His net helps him live like the rich
and enjoy the best food.
So the enemy worships his net.
He makes sacrifices and burns incense to honor his net.
17 Will he continue to take riches with his net?
Will he continue destroying people without showing mercy?
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:6 Babylonians Literally, “Chaldeans,” a tribe of Arameans who gained control in Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar was from this tribe.
- Habakkuk 1:12 Lord, you are … never dies Or “Lord, you have been my holy God forever! Surely we will not die.”
Habakkuk 1
International Standard Version
Habakkuk 1
International Standard Version
Habakkuk’s Oracle
1 The pronouncement[a] that the prophet Habakkuk[b] perceived.
The Prophet’s First Complaint
2 “How long, Lord, must I cry out for help,
but you won’t listen?
I’m crying out to you, ‘Violence!’
but you aren’t providing deliverance.
3 Why are you forcing me to look at iniquity
and to stare at wickedness?
Social havoc and oppression are all around me;
there are legal conflicts, and disputes abound.
4 Therefore, the Law has become paralyzed,
and justice never comes about.
Because criminals outnumber[c] the righteous,
whenever judgments are issued, they come out crooked.”
God’s Response: The Coming Chaldean Invasion
5 “Look out at the nations and pay attention!
Be astounded! Be really astounded!
Because something is happening in your lifetime
that you won’t believe, even if it were described down to the smallest detail.[d]
6 Watch out! For I am bringing in the Chaldeans,[e]
that cruel and impetuous[f] people,
who sweep across the earth
dispossessing people[g] from homes not their own.
7 They are terrible and fearsome;
their brand of justice and sense of honor derive only from themselves!
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
and more cunning than wolves that attack at night.
Their horsemen are galloping
as they approach from far away.
They swoop in like ravenous vultures.[h]
9 “They all come to oppress—
hordes of them, their faces pressing onward—
they take prisoners as numerous as[i] the desert sand!
10 They make fun of kings,
deriding those who rule.
They laugh at all of the fortified places,
constructing ramps to seize them.
11 Then like[j] the wind sweeping by
they will pass through—
they’re guilty because they say[k] their power is their god.”
The Prophet’s Second Complaint
12 “Haven’t you existed forever,
Lord my God, my Holy One?
We won’t die!
Lord, you’ve prepared them[l] for judgment;
Rock, you’ve sentenced them[m] to correction.
13 Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil;
and you cannot tolerate wickedness.
So why do you tolerate the treacherous?
And why do you stay silent
while the wicked devour those who are more righteous than they are?
14 “You have fashioned mankind like fish in the ocean,
like creeping things that have no ruler.
15 The adversary[n] captures them with a hook,
gathering them up in a fishing net.
He collects them with a dragnet,
rejoicing and gloating over his catch.[o]
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his fishing net,
and burns incense in the presence of his dragnet,
because by them his assets increase
and he gets plenty of food.
17 Is he to continue to empty his fishing net?
Will he ever stop killing entire[p] nations without mercy?”
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:1 Or revelation
- Habakkuk 1:1 The Heb. name Habakkuk means embrace
- Habakkuk 1:4 Lit. are surrounding
- Habakkuk 1:5 The Heb. lacks down to the smallest detail
- Habakkuk 1:6 I.e. Babylonian invaders
- Habakkuk 1:6 Or rash
- Habakkuk 1:6 The Heb. lacks people
- Habakkuk 1:8 Or eagles
- Habakkuk 1:9 The Heb. lacks as numerous as
- Habakkuk 1:11 The Heb. lacks like
- Habakkuk 1:11 The Heb. lacks they say
- Habakkuk 1:12 I.e. the Babylonian invaders
- Habakkuk 1:12 I.e. the Babylonian invaders
- Habakkuk 1:15 I.e. the Babylonian invaders
- Habakkuk 1:15 The Heb. lacks over his catch
- Habakkuk 1:17 The Heb. lacks entire
Habakkuk 1
New International Version
Habakkuk 1
New International Version
1 The prophecy(A) that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2 How long,(B) Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?(C)
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?(D)
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate(E) wrongdoing?(F)
Destruction and violence(G) are before me;
there is strife,(H) and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law(I) is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice(J) is perverted.(K)
The Lord’s Answer
5 “Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.(L)
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.(M)
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[a](N)
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth(O)
to seize dwellings not their own.(P)
7 They are a feared and dreaded people;(Q)
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
8 Their horses are swifter(R) than leopards,
fiercer than wolves(S) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9 they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes[b] advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners(T) like sand.
10 They mock kings
and scoff at rulers.(U)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen ramps(V) they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind(W) and go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”(X)
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?(Y)
My God, my Holy One,(Z) you[c] will never die.(AA)
You, Lord, have appointed(AB) them to execute judgment;
you, my Rock,(AC) have ordained them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pure(AD) to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.(AE)
Why then do you tolerate(AF) the treacherous?(AG)
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?(AH)
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The wicked(AI) foe pulls all of them up with hooks,(AJ)
he catches them in his net,(AK)
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense(AL) to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?(AM)
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
- Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Habakkuk 1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
International Standard Version (ISV) 
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.