Habakkuk 2:5-20
Legacy Standard Bible
5 And indeed, (A)wine betrays the (B)haughty man
So that he does not (C)stay at home.
He (D)enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all nations
And assembles to himself all peoples.
6 “Will not all of these (E)lift up a taunt-song against him,
Even satire and riddles against him
And say, ‘(F)Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself [a]rich with loans?’
7 Will not [b]your creditors (G)rise up suddenly,
And those who make you tremble awaken?
Indeed, you will become spoil for them.
8 Because you have (H)taken many nations as spoil,
All that is left of the peoples will take you as spoil—
Because of human bloodshed and violence [c]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
9 “Woe to him who is greedy for (I)evil gain for his house
To (J)put his nest on high,
To be delivered from the hand of evil!
10 You have counseled a (K)shameful thing for your house
By cutting off many peoples;
So you are (L)sinning against your own soul.
11 Surely the (M)stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the [d]framework.
12 “Woe to him who (N)builds a city with bloodshed
And founds a town with injustice!
13 Is it not, behold, from Yahweh of hosts
That peoples (O)toil for fire,
And nations grow weary for nothing?
14 For the earth will be (P)filled
With the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh,
As the waters cover the sea.
15 “Woe to you who make [e]your neighbors drink,
Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk
So as to look on their nakedness!
16 You will be filled with disgrace rather than glory.
Now you yourself (Q)drink and [f]expose your own nakedness.
The (R)cup in Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you,
And (S)utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
17 For the (T)violence [g]done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the devastation of its beasts [h]by which you terrified them,
(U)Because of human bloodshed and (V)violence [i]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
18 “What (W)profit is the graven image when its maker has engraved it,
Or a molten image, a (X)teacher of [j]lies?
For its maker (Y)trusts in his own making
When he fashions speechless idols.
19 Woe to him who (Z)says to a piece of wood, ‘(AA)Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
And that is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with (AB)gold and silver,
And there is (AC)no breath at all inside it.
20 But (AD)Yahweh is in His holy temple.
[k]Let all the earth (AE)be silent before Him.”
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:6 Lit heavy
- Habakkuk 2:7 Lit those who bite you
- Habakkuk 2:8 Lit of the land
- Habakkuk 2:11 Lit wood
- Habakkuk 2:15 Lit his neighbor
- Habakkuk 2:16 As in DSS and ancient versions; or stagger; lit show yourself uncircumcised
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit of Lebanon
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit which terrified them
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit of the land
- Habakkuk 2:18 Lit a lie
- Habakkuk 2:20 Lit Hush before Him, all the earth
Habakkuk 2:5-20
International Standard Version
5 Moreover, just as wine leads astray the proud and powerful man,
he[a] remains restless;
he[b] has expanded his appetite—
like the afterlife[c] or death itself, he[d] is never satisfied.
He[e] gathers to himself all of the nations,
taking captive all of the people for himself.”
Judgment on the Plunderer of Nations
6 “Will not all of these ridicule him
with mocking scorn? They will say,
‘Woe to the one who hordes for himself what isn’t his.
How long will you enrich yourself by extortion?’[f]
7 Won’t your creditors revolt unexpectedly?
Won’t those who make you tremble wake up?
As a result, you’ll become their prey!
8 Because you plundered many nations,
all of their remnants will plunder you.
Human blood has been shed,[g]
and violence has been done to[h] the land,
to the city, and to all who live in it.”
Judgment on Those who Think They are Safe
9 “Woe to the one who amasses profit upon unjust profit
in order to establish his household,
so he can establish a secure place[i] on the heights
and escape from the power of evil.
10 You have brought shame to yourself[j] by killing many people—
you are forfeiting your own life.
11 Indeed, the stone will cry out from the wall
and the rafter will respond from the woodwork.”
Judgment on the Lawless
12 “Woe to the one who founds a city upon bloodshed,
and constructs a city by lawlessness.
13 Is it not because of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
that people grow tired putting out fires,[k]
and nations weary themselves over nothing?
14 Indeed, the earth will be filled
with knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as water fills[l] the sea.”
Judgment on the Violent
15 “Woe to the one who supplies his neighbor with a drink!
You are forcing your bottle[m] on him,[n]
making him drunk so you can see them naked.
16 You are filled with dishonor instead of glory.
So go ahead,[o] drink and be naked!
The Lord[p] will turn against you,
and utter disgrace will debase your reputation.[q]
17 Indeed, the violence done to Lebanon will overtake you,
and the destruction of the beasts will terrorize you—[r]
because you shed human blood
and did violence to[s] the land, to the city, and to all who live in it.”
Judgment on the Idol Maker
18 “Where is the benefit in owning[t] a carved image,
that motivates its maker to carve[u] it?
It is only a cast image—
a teacher that lies—
because the engraver entrusts himself to his carving,
crafting speechless idols.
19 “Woe to the one who says to a tree, ‘Wake up!’
or ‘Arise!’ to a speechless stone.
Idols[v] like this can’t teach, can they?
Look, even though it is overlaid with gold and silver,
there’s no breath in it at all.”
The Lord’s Final Counsel to Habakkuk
20 “The Lord is in his holy Temple.
All the earth—be quiet in his presence.”
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:5 I.e. Babylonian invaders personified in their king
- Habakkuk 2:5 I.e. Babylonian invaders personified in their king
- Habakkuk 2:5 Lit. Sheol; i.e. the realm of the dead
- Habakkuk 2:5 I.e. Babylonian invaders personified in their king
- Habakkuk 2:5 I.e. Babylonian invaders personified in their king
- Habakkuk 2:6 Lit. by loans
- Habakkuk 2:8 The Heb. lacks has been shed
- Habakkuk 2:8 Lit. violence of
- Habakkuk 2:9 Lit. establish his nest
- Habakkuk 2:10 Lit. to your house
- Habakkuk 2:13 Lit. tired for the sufficiency of fire
- Habakkuk 2:14 Lit. covers
- Habakkuk 2:15 Lit. wine skin
- Habakkuk 2:15 The Heb. lacks on him
- Habakkuk 2:16 The Heb. lacks go ahead
- Habakkuk 2:16 Lit. The power of the Lord’s right hand
- Habakkuk 2:16 Lit. will come upon your glory
- Habakkuk 2:17 The Heb. lacks you
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit. violence of
- Habakkuk 2:18 The Heb. lacks owning
- Habakkuk 2:18 Lit. because its maker carved
- Habakkuk 2:19 Lit. Things
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