Habakkuk 1
Legacy Standard Bible
Habakkuk Calls for Help
1 The [a](A)oracle which Habakkuk the prophet beheld.
2 (B)How long, O [b]Yahweh, will I call for help,
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do (C)not save.
3 Why do You make me (D)see wickedness
And cause me to look on trouble?
Indeed, (E)devastation and violence are before me;
(F)And there is strife, and contention is lifted up.
4 Therefore the (G)law is [c]ignored,
And justice never comes forth.
For the wicked (H)surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes forth (I)perverted.
Yahweh Raises the Dreaded Chaldeans
5 “(J)See among the nations! And look!
Be also astonished! (K)Be astounded!
Because I am doing (L)something in your days—
You would not believe if it was recounted to you.
6 For behold, I am (M)raising up the Chaldeans,
That bitter and hasty nation
Who walks on the breadth of the land
To (N)possess dwelling places which are not theirs.
7 They are dreaded and (O)feared;
Their (P)justice and exaltation come forth from themselves.
8 Their (Q)horses are swifter than leopards
And [d]sharper than (R)wolves in the evening.
Their [e]horsemen come galloping;
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an (S)eagle swooping down to devour.
9 All of them come for violence.
[f]Their horde of (T)faces moves forward.
And they gather captives like sand.
10 And they (U)mock at kings,
And rulers are a laughing matter to them.
They (V)laugh at every fortress
And (W)heap up dirt and capture it.
11 Then they will sweep through like the (X)wind and pass on.
But they will be held (Y)guilty,
They whose (Z)power is their god.”
Yahweh Has Placed Them to Judge
12 Are You not from (AA)everlasting,
O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, O Yahweh, have (AB)placed them to judge;
And You, O (AC)Rock, have established them to reprove.
13 Your eyes are too (AD)pure to see evil,
And You cannot look on trouble.
Why do You (AE)look
On those who deal (AF)treacherously?
Why are You (AG)silent when the wicked (AH)swallow up
Those more righteous than they?
14 And You have made men like the fish of the sea,
Like creeping things without a ruler over them.
15 The Chaldeans (AI)bring all of them up with a hook,
(AJ)Drag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they are glad and rejoice.
16 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And [g]burn incense to their fishing net
Because through (AK)these things their portion is rich
And their food is fat.
17 Will they therefore empty their (AL)net
And continually (AM)kill nations without sparing?
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:1 Or burden
- Habakkuk 1:2 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Habakkuk 1:4 Or ineffective; lit numbed
- Habakkuk 1:8 Or more eager to attack
- Habakkuk 1:8 Or steeds paw the ground
- Habakkuk 1:9 Or The eagerness of their faces
- Habakkuk 1:16 Or sacrifice
Habakkuk 1
Lexham English Bible
Habakkuk’s Complaint
1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2 O Yahweh, how long shall I cry for help
and you will not listen?
How long will I cry out to you, “Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 Why do you cause me to see evil
while you look at trouble?
Destruction and violence happen before me;
contention and strife arise.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice does not go forth perpetually.[a]
For the wicked surround the righteous;
therefore justice goes forth perverted.
God’s Answer to Habakkuk
5 “Look among the nations and see;
be astonished and astounded.
For a work is about to be done in your days
that you will not believe if it is told.
6 For look! I am raising up the Chaldeans,
the bitter and impetuous nation,
the one who walks through the spacious places of earth
to take possession of dwellings not belonging to it.[b]
7 They[c] are dreadful and awesome;
their[d] justice and their[e] dignity proceed from themselves.[f]
8 Their[g] horses are more swift than leopards;
they are more menacing than wolves at dusk.
Their[h] horsemen gallop; their[i] horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle that is swift to devour.
9 All of them[j] come for violence,
their faces pressing forward.
They gather captives like the sand.
10 And they themselves scoff at kings
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh at every fortification,
and they heap up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep like the wind and pass on;
they become guilty, whose might is their[k] god!”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12 Are you not from of old,
O Yahweh my God, my Holy One?
You[l] shall not die.
O Yahweh, you have marked them[m] for judgment;
O Rock, you have established them[n] for reproof.
13 Your eyes are too pure to see evil,
and you are not able to look at wrongdoing.[o]
Why do you look at the treacherous?
Why are you silent when the wicked swallows up
someone more righteous than him?
14 You make humankind like fish of the sea,
like crawling creatures that have no ruler among them.
15 He brings up all of them with a fishhook;
he drags them up with a fishnet;
he gathers them in his dragnet.
Therefore, he rejoices and exults.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his fishnet
and makes offerings to his dragnet,
for by them he makes a good living[p]
and his food is rich.
17 Will he therefore empty his fishnet
and continually kill nations without showing mercy?
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:4 Or “forever”
- Habakkuk 1:6 Or “him”
- Habakkuk 1:7 Hebrew “He”
- Habakkuk 1:7 Hebrew “his”
- Habakkuk 1:7 Hebrew “his”
- Habakkuk 1:7 Hebrew “him”
- Habakkuk 1:8 Hebrew “His”
- Habakkuk 1:8 Hebrew “His”
- Habakkuk 1:8 Hebrew “his”
- Habakkuk 1:9 Hebrew “him”
- Habakkuk 1:11 Hebrew “his”
- Habakkuk 1:12 Hebrew “we shall not die,” considered a deliberate scribal change of the text to avoid offensive language toward Yahweh
- Habakkuk 1:12 Hebrew “him”
- Habakkuk 1:12 Hebrew “him”
- Habakkuk 1:13 Or “trouble”
- Habakkuk 1:16 Literally “his portion is fat”
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