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?

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

  1. Habakkuk 1:15 That is, the wicked foe
  2. Habakkuk 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat

12 Art thou not from everlasting,
    O Lord my God, my Holy One?
    We shall not die.
O Lord, thou hast ordained them as a judgment;
    and thou, O Rock, hast established them for chastisement.
13 Thou who art of purer eyes than to behold evil
    and canst not look on wrong,
why dost thou look on faithless men,
    and art silent when the wicked swallows up
    the man more righteous than he?
14 For thou makest men like the fish of the sea,
    like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 He brings all of them up with a hook,
    he drags them out with his net,
he gathers them in his seine;
    so he rejoices and exults.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and burns incense to his seine;
for by them he lives in luxury,[a]
    and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net,
    and mercilessly slaying nations for ever?

God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint

I will take my stand to watch,
and station myself on the tower,
and look forth to see what he will say to me,
    and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:16 Heb his portion is fat