Habakkuk 1:5-11
New American Standard Bible
5 “(A)Look among the nations! Watch!
Be horrified! (B)Be frightened speechless!
For I am accomplishing (C)a work in your days—
You would not believe it even if [a]you were told!
6 For behold, I am (D)raising up the Chaldeans,
That [b]grim and impetuous people
Who march [c]throughout the earth,
To (E)take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs.
7 They are terrifying and (F)feared;
Their (G)justice and [d]authority [e]originate with themselves.
8 Their (H)horses are faster than leopards,
And quicker than (I)wolves in the evening.
Their [f]horsemen charge along,
Their [g]horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an (J)eagle [h]swooping down to devour.
9 All of them come for violence.
[i]Their horde of (K)faces moves forward.
They gather captives like sand.
10 They (L)make fun of kings,
And dignitaries are an object of laughter to them.
They (M)laugh at every fortress,
Then (N)heap up dirt and [j]capture it.
11 Then they fly along like the (O)wind and pass on.
But they will be held (P)guilty,
They whose (Q)strength is their god.”
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:5 Lit it
- Habakkuk 1:6 Lit bitter
- Habakkuk 1:6 Lit the breadth of
- Habakkuk 1:7 Lit sovereignty
- Habakkuk 1:7 Lit proceed from
- Habakkuk 1:8 Or horses
- Habakkuk 1:8 Or horses
- Habakkuk 1:8 Lit hurrying to
- Habakkuk 1:9 Lit The totality of
- Habakkuk 1:10 Or overthrow
Habakkuk 1:5-11
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Reply
5 The Lord replied,
“Look around at the nations;
look and be amazed![a]
For I am doing something in your own day,
something you wouldn’t believe
even if someone told you about it.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[b]
a cruel and violent people.
They will march across the world
and conquer other lands.
7 They are notorious for their cruelty
and do whatever they like.
8 Their horses are swifter than cheetahs[c]
and fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their charioteers charge from far away.
Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.
9 “On they come, all bent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind,
sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.
10 They scoff at kings and princes
and scorn all their fortresses.
They simply pile ramps of earth
against their walls and capture them!
11 They sweep past like the wind
and are gone.
But they are deeply guilty,
for their own strength is their god.”
Footnotes
- 1:5 Greek version reads Look, you mockers; / look and be amazed and die. Compare Acts 13:41.
- 1:6 Or Chaldeans.
- 1:8 Or leopards.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
