1 The ^[a]burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

² O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. ³ Why dost thou show me iniquity, and ^[b]look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up. ⁴ Therefore the law is slacked, and justice ^[c]doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted.

⁵ Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for ^[d]I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you. ⁶ For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs. ^7 [e]They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. ⁸ Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen ^[f]press proudly on: yea, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour. ⁹ They come all of them for violence; ^[g]the set of their faces is ^[h]forwards; and they gather captives as the sand. ^10 [i]Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it. ^11 [j]Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall ^[k]pass over, and be guilty, even he whose might is his god.

¹² Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast established him for correction. ¹³ Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he; ¹⁴ and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? ¹⁵ He taketh up all of them with the angle, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad. ¹⁶ Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his food ^[l]plenteous. ¹⁷ Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually?

2 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the ^[m]tower, and will look forth to see what he will speak ^[n]with me, and what I shall answer concerning my complaint. ² And Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it. ³ For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it ^[o]hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.

⁴ Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not ^[p]upright in him; but the righteous shall live ^[q]by his faith. ^5 [r]Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man, ^[s]that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples. ⁶ Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting ^[t]proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and that ladeth himself with pledges! ⁷ Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall ^[u]bite thee, and awake that shall ^[v]vex thee, and thou shalt be for booty unto them? ⁸ Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder thee, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein.

⁹ Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil! ¹⁰ Thou hast devised shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thy soul. ¹¹ For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

¹² Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity! ¹³ Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity? ¹⁴ For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁵ Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, to thee that ^[w]addest thy ^[x]venom, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! ¹⁶ Thou art filled with shame, and not glory: drink thou also, and ^[y]be as one uncircumcised; the cup of Jehovah’s right hand shall come round unto thee, and foul shame shall be upon thy glory. ¹⁷ For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of the beasts, which made them afraid; because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein.

¹⁸ What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? ¹⁹ Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. ²⁰ But Jehovah is in his holy temple: ^[z]let all the earth keep silence before him.

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to Shigionoth.

3 If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. ³ For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is ^[a]our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory.

⁵ Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; ⁶ for which things’ sake cometh the wrath of God ^[b]upon the sons of disobedience: ^7 [c]wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things; ⁸ but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: ⁹ lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, ¹⁰ and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him: ¹¹ where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.

¹² Put on therefore, as God’s elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as ^[d]the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: ¹⁴ and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ ^[e]rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of ^[f]Christ dwell in you ^[g]richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing ^[h]one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God. ¹⁷ And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

¹⁸ Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. ²⁰ Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord. ²¹ Fathers, provoke not your children, that they be not discouraged. ^22 [i]Servants, obey in all things them that are your ^[j]masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord: ²³ whatsoever ye do, work ^[k]heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ. ²⁵ For he that doeth wrong shall ^[l]receive again for the wrong that he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.