Habakkuk 1-2

New American Standard Bible

⁵ “^(J)Look among the nations! Watch!
Be horrified! ^(K)Be frightened speechless!
For I am accomplishing ^(L)a work in your days—
You would not believe it even if ^[c]you were told!
⁶ For behold, I am ^(M)raising up the Chaldeans,
That ^[d]grim and impetuous people
Who march ^[e]throughout the earth,
To ^(N)take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs.
⁷ They are terrifying and ^(O)feared;
Their ^(P)justice and ^[f]authority ^[g]originate with themselves.
⁸ Their ^(Q)horses are faster than leopards,
And quicker than ^(R)wolves in the evening.
Their ^[h]horsemen charge along,
Their ^[i]horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an ^(S)eagle ^[j]swooping down to devour.
⁹ All of them come for violence.
^[k]Their horde of ^(T)faces moves forward.
They gather captives like sand.
¹⁰ They ^(U)make fun of kings,
And dignitaries are an object of laughter to them.
They ^(V)laugh at every fortress,
Then ^(W)heap up dirt and ^[l]capture it.
¹¹ Then they fly along like the ^(X)wind and pass on.
But they will be held ^(Y)guilty,
They whose ^(Z)strength is their god.”

¹² Are You not from ^(AA)time everlasting,
Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, Lord, have ^(AB)appointed them to deliver judgment;
And You, O ^(AC)Rock, have destined them to punish.
¹³ Your eyes are too ^(AD)pure to look at evil,
And You cannot look at harm favorably.
Why do You ^(AE)look favorably
At those who deal ^(AF)treacherously?
Why are You ^(AG)silent when the wicked ^(AH)swallow up
Those more righteous than they?
¹⁴ Why have You made people like the fish of the sea,
Like crawling things that have no 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 rejoice and are joyful.
¹⁶ Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And ^[m]burn incense to their fishing net,
Because through ^(AK)these things their ^[n]catch is ^[o]large,
And their food is ^[p]plentiful.
¹⁷ Will they therefore empty their ^(AL)net,
And continually ^(AM)slay nations without sparing?

⁴ “Behold, as for the ^(AU)impudent one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the ^(AV)righteous one will live by his ^[u]faith.
⁵ Furthermore, ^(AW)wine betrays an ^(AX)arrogant man,
So that he does not ^(AY)achieve his objective.
He ^(AZ)enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all the nations
And collects to himself all the peoples.

⁶ “Will all of these not ^(BA)take up a song of ridicule against him,
Even a saying and insinuations against him
And say, ‘^(BB)Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself ^[v]rich with debts!’
⁷ Will ^[w]your creditors not ^(BC)rise up suddenly,
And those who ^[x]collect from you awaken?
Indeed, you will become plunder for them.
⁸ Since you have ^(BD)looted many nations,
All the rest of the peoples will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and violence ^[y]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.

⁹ “Woe to him who makes ^(BE)evil profit for his household,
To ^(BF)put his nest on high,
To be saved from the hand of catastrophe!
¹⁰ You have planned a ^(BG)shameful thing for your house
By bringing many peoples to an end;
So you are ^(BH)sinning against yourself.
¹¹ For the ^(BI)stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the ^[z]framework.

¹² “Woe to him who ^(BJ)builds a city with bloodshed,
And founds a town with ^[aa]violence!
¹³ Is it not indeed from the Lord of armies
That peoples ^(BK)labor merely for fire,
And nations become weary for nothing?
¹⁴ For the earth will be ^(BL)filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.

¹⁵ “Woe to him who makes his neighbor drink;
^[ab]To you who mix in your venom even to make your neighbors drunk,
So as to look at their genitalia!
¹⁶ You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
^(BM)Drink, you yourself, and ^[ac]expose your own foreskin!
The ^(BN)cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you,
And ^(BO)utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
¹⁷ For the ^(BP)violence ^[ad]done to Lebanon will ^[ae]overwhelm you,
And the devastation of its animals ^[af]by which you terrified them,
^(BQ)Because of human bloodshed and ^(BR)violence ^[ag]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.

¹⁸ “What ^(BS)benefit is a carved image when its maker has carved it,
Or a cast metal image, a ^(BT)teacher of falsehood?
For its maker ^(BU)trusts in his own handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols.
¹⁹ Woe to him who ^(BV)says to a piece of wood, ‘^(BW)Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
That is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with ^(BX)gold and silver,
Yet there is ^(BY)no breath at all inside it.
²⁰ But the ^(BZ)Lord is in His holy temple.
^[ah]Let all the earth ^(CA)be silent before Him.”