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(A)How long, O [a]Yahweh, will I call for help,
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do (B)not save.
Why do You make me (C)see wickedness
And cause me to look on trouble?
Indeed, (D)devastation and violence are before me;
(E)And there is strife, and contention is lifted up.
Therefore the (F)law is [b]ignored,
And justice never comes forth.
For the wicked (G)surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes forth (H)perverted.

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Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:2 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
  2. Habakkuk 1:4 Or ineffective; lit numbed

Habakkuk’s First Prayer

How long,(A) Lord, must I call for help(B)
and you do not listen
or cry out to you about violence(C)
and you do not save?
Why do you force me to look at injustice?(D)
Why do you tolerate[a] wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict(E) the righteous;
therefore, justice(F) comes out perverted.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:3 Lit observe, also in v. 13