Habakkuk 1:12-2:1
English Standard Version
Habakkuk's Second Complaint
12 Are you not (A)from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
(B)We shall not die.
O Lord, (C)you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O (D)Rock, have established them for reproof.
13 You who are (E)of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
(F)why do you idly look at traitors
and (G)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 (H)He[a] brings all of them up (I)with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and is glad.
16 (J)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
(K)and mercilessly killing nations forever?
2 I will (L)take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and (M)look out to see (N)what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:15 That is, the wicked foe
- Habakkuk 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat
Habakkuk 1:12-2:1
Common English Bible
The prophet questions the Lord
12 Lord, aren’t you ancient, my God, my holy one?
Don’t let us die.[a]
Lord, you put the Chaldean here for judgment.
Rock, you established him as a rebuke.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you are unable to look at disaster.
Why would you look at the treacherous
or keep silent when the wicked swallows one who is more righteous?
14 You made humans like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things with no one to rule over them.
15 The Chaldean brings all of them up with a fishhook.
He drags them away with a net;
he collects them in his fishing net,
then he rejoices and celebrates.
16 Therefore, he sacrifices to his net;
he burns incense to his fishing nets,
because due to them his portion grows fat
and his food becomes luxurious.
17 Should he continue to empty his net
and continue to slay nations without sparing them?
2 I will take my post;
I will position myself on the fortress.
I will keep watch to see what the Lord says to me
and how he[b] will respond to my complaint.
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:12 Heb uncertain
- Habakkuk 2:1 Syr he; MT I
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible