12 Are You not from (A)time everlasting,
Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, Lord, have (B)appointed them to deliver judgment;
And You, O (C)Rock, have destined them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too (D)pure to look at evil,
And You cannot look at harm favorably.
Why do You (E)look favorably
At those who deal (F)treacherously?
Why are You (G)silent when the wicked (H)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 (I)bring all of them up with a hook,
(J)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 [a]burn incense to their fishing net,
Because through (K)these things their [b]catch is [c]large,
And their food is [d]plentiful.
17 Will they therefore empty their (L)net,
And continually (M)slay nations without sparing?

God Answers the Prophet

I will (N)stand at my guard post
And station myself on the watchtower;
And I will (O)keep watch to see (P)what He will say to me,
And how I may reply [e]when I am reprimanded.

Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:16 Or sacrifice
  2. Habakkuk 1:16 Lit portion
  3. Habakkuk 1:16 Lit fat; or plentiful
  4. Habakkuk 1:16 Lit fat
  5. Habakkuk 2:1 Lit upon my reprimand

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?

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

  1. Habakkuk 1:12 Heb uncertain
  2. Habakkuk 2:1 Syr he; MT I