Habakkuk 1-3

English Standard Version

1 ^(A)The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

Habakkuk's Complaint

²O Lord, ^(B)how long shall I cry for help,
    and you will not hear?
Or cry to you ^(C)“Violence!”
    and you will not save?
³^(D)Why do you make me see iniquity,
    and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction ^(E)and violence are before me;
    strife and contention arise.
⁴^(F)So the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never goes forth.
^(G)For the wicked surround the righteous;
    so justice goes forth perverted.

The Lord's Answer

⁵^(H)“Look among the nations, and see;
    wonder and be astounded.
^(I)For I am doing a work in your days
    that you would not believe if told.
⁶For behold, ^(J)I am raising up the Chaldeans,
    that bitter and hasty nation,
^(K)who march through the breadth of the earth,
    ^(L)to seize dwellings not their own.
⁷They are dreaded and fearsome;
    ^(M)their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
⁸^(N)Their horses are swifter than leopards,
    more fierce than ^(O)the evening wolves;
    their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
    ^(P)they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
⁹They all come ^(Q)for violence,
    all their faces forward.
    They gather captives ^(R)like sand.
¹⁰At kings they scoff,
    and at rulers they laugh.
^(S)They laugh at every fortress,
    for ^(T)they pile up earth and take it.
¹¹Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
    ^(U)guilty men, ^(V)whose own might is their god!”

Habakkuk's Second Complaint

¹²Are you not ^(W)from everlasting,
    O Lord my God, my Holy One?
    ^(X)We shall not die.
O Lord, ^(Y)you have ordained them as a judgment,
    and you, O ^(Z)Rock, have established them for reproof.
¹³You who are ^(AA)of purer eyes than to see evil
    and cannot look at wrong,
^(AB)why do you idly look at traitors
    and ^(AC)remain silent when the wicked swallows up
    the man more righteous than he?
¹⁴You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
    like crawling things that have no ruler.
¹⁵^(AD)He^[a] brings all of them up ^(AE)with a hook;
    he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
    so he rejoices and is glad.
¹⁶^(AF)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.
¹⁷Is he then to keep on emptying his net
    ^(AG)and mercilessly killing nations forever?

2 I will ^(AH)take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and ^(AI)look out to see ^(AJ)what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

²And the Lord answered me:

^(AK)“Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
³For still ^(AL)the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, ^(AM)wait for it;
    ^(AN)it will surely come; it will not delay.

⁴“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but ^(AO)the righteous shall live by his faith.^[c]

⁵“Moreover, wine^[d] is ^(AP)a traitor,
    an arrogant man who is never at rest.^[e]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
    like death ^(AQ)he has never enough.
^(AR)He gathers for himself all nations
    and collects as his own all peoples.”

Woe to the Chaldeans

⁶Shall not all these ^(AS)take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

^(AT)“Woe to him ^(AU)who heaps up what is not his own—
    for ^(AV)how long?—
    and ^(AW)loads himself with pledges!”
⁷^(AX)Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
    and those awake who will make you tremble?
    Then you will be spoil for them.
⁸^(AY)Because you have plundered many nations,
    all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
^(AZ)for the blood of man and ^(BA)violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

⁹^(BB)“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
    ^(BC)to ^(BD)set his nest on high,
    to be safe from the reach of harm!
¹⁰You have devised shame for your house
    ^(BE)by cutting off many peoples;
    you have forfeited your life.
¹¹For ^(BF)the stone will cry out from the wall,
    and the beam from the woodwork respond.

¹²^(BG)“Woe to him ^(BH)who builds a town with blood
    and founds a city on iniquity!
¹³Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
    that ^(BI)peoples labor merely for fire,
    and nations weary themselves for nothing?
¹⁴^(BJ)For the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of ^(BK)the glory of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁵^(BL)“Woe to him ^(BM)who makes his neighbors drink—
    you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
    in order to gaze ^(BN)at their nakedness!
¹⁶You will have your fill ^(BO)of shame instead of glory.
    ^(BP)Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
^(BQ)The cup in the Lord's right hand
    will come around to you,
    and ^(BR)utter shame will come upon your glory!
¹⁷^(BS)The violence ^(BT)done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
^(BU)for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

¹⁸^(BV)“What profit is an idol
    when its maker has shaped it,
    a metal image, ^(BW)a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
    when he makes ^(BX)speechless idols!
¹⁹^(BY)Woe to him ^(BZ)who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
    to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
    and ^(CA)there is no breath at all in it.
²⁰But ^(CB)the Lord is in his holy temple;
    ^(CC)let all the earth keep silence before him.”

Habakkuk's Prayer

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.

²O Lord, ^(CD)I have heard the report of you,
    and ^(CE)your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years ^(CF)revive it;
    in the midst of the years make it known;
    ^(CG)in wrath remember mercy.
³God came from ^(CH)Teman,
    ^(CI)and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
    and the earth was full of his praise.
⁴^(CJ)His brightness was like the light;
    rays flashed from his hand;
    and there he veiled his power.
⁵^(CK)Before him went pestilence,
    and plague followed ^(CL)at his heels.^[f]
⁶He stood ^(CM)and measured the earth;
    he looked and shook the nations;
then the ^(CN)eternal mountains ^(CO)were scattered;
    the everlasting hills sank low.
    His were ^(CP)the everlasting ways.
⁷I saw the tents of ^(CQ)Cushan in affliction;
    ^(CR)the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
⁸^(CS)Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
    Was your anger against the rivers,
    ^(CT)or your indignation against the sea,
^(CU)when you rode on your horses,
    ^(CV)on your chariot of salvation?
⁹You stripped the sheath from your bow,
    calling for many arrows.^[g] Selah
    ^(CW)You split the earth with rivers.
¹⁰^(CX)The mountains saw you and writhed;
    the raging waters swept on;
^(CY)the deep gave forth its voice;
    ^(CZ)it lifted its hands on high.
¹¹^(DA)The sun and moon stood still in their place
    ^(DB)at the light of your arrows as they sped,
    at the flash of your glittering spear.
¹²^(DC)You marched through the earth in fury;
    ^(DD)you threshed the nations in anger.
¹³^(DE)You went out for the salvation of your people,
    for the salvation of ^(DF)your anointed.
^(DG)You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
    laying him bare from thigh to neck.^[h] Selah
¹⁴You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
    who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
    rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
¹⁵^(DH)You trampled the sea with your horses,
    the surging of mighty waters.

¹⁶^(DI)I hear, and ^(DJ)my body trembles;
    my lips quiver at the sound;
^(DK)rottenness enters into my bones;
    my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet ^(DL)I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
    to come upon people who invade us.

Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord

¹⁷Though the fig tree should not blossom,
    nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
    and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
    and there be no herd in the stalls,
¹⁸^(DM)yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    ^(DN)I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹God, the Lord, is my strength;
    ^(DO)he makes my feet like the deer's;
    he makes me ^(DP)tread on my ^(DQ)high places.

^(DR)To the choirmaster: with ^(DS)stringed^[i] instruments.

Footnotes

Habakkuk 1:15 That is, the wicked foe
Habakkuk 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat
Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
Habakkuk 2:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth
Habakkuk 2:5 The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain
Habakkuk 3:5 Hebrew feet
Habakkuk 3:9 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
Habakkuk 3:13 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
Habakkuk 3:19 Hebrew my stringed

Hebrews 9

English Standard Version

The Earthly Holy Place

9 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and ^(A)an earthly place of holiness. ²For ^(B)a tent^[a] was prepared, the first section, in which were ^(C)the lampstand and ^(D)the table and ^(E)the bread of the Presence.^[b] It is called the Holy Place. ³Behind ^(F)the second curtain was a second section^[c] called the Most Holy Place, ⁴having the golden ^(G)altar of incense and ^(H)the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was ^(I)a golden urn holding the manna, and ^(J)Aaron's staff that budded, and ^(K)the tablets of the covenant. ⁵Above it were ^(L)the cherubim of glory overshadowing ^(M)the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶These preparations having thus been made, ^(N)the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, ⁷but into the second only ^(O)the high priest goes, and he but ^(P)once a year, and not without taking blood, ^(Q)which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. ⁸By this the Holy Spirit indicates that ^(R)the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing ⁹(which is symbolic for the present age).^[d] According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered ^(S)that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, ¹⁰but deal only with ^(T)food and drink and ^(U)various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

¹¹But when Christ appeared as a high priest ^(V)of the good things that have come,^[e] then through ^(W)the greater and more perfect tent (^(X)not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ¹²he ^(Y)entered ^(Z)once for all into the holy places, not by means of ^(AA)the blood of goats and calves but ^(AB)by means of his own blood, ^(AC)thus securing an eternal redemption. ¹³For if ^(AD)the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with ^(AE)the ashes of a heifer, sanctify^[f] for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴how much more will ^(AF)the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit ^(AG)offered himself without blemish to God, ^(AH)purify our^[g] conscience ^(AI)from dead works ^(AJ)to serve the living God.

¹⁵Therefore he is ^(AK)the mediator of a new covenant, so that ^(AL)those who are called may ^(AM)receive the promised eternal inheritance, ^(AN)since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.^[h] ¹⁶For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. ¹⁷For ^(AO)a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. ¹⁸Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated ^(AP)without blood. ¹⁹For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took ^(AQ)the blood of calves and goats, ^(AR)with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰saying, ^(AS)“This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” ²¹And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both ^(AT)the tent and all the vessels used in worship. ²²Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and ^(AU)without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

²³Thus it was necessary for ^(AV)the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ has entered, not into holy places ^(AW)made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God ^(AX)on our behalf. ²⁵Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as ^(AY)the high priest enters ^(AZ)the holy places every year with blood not his own, ²⁶for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, ^(BA)he has appeared ^(BB)once for all ^(BC)at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷And just as ^(BD)it is appointed for man to die once, and ^(BE)after that comes judgment, ²⁸so Christ, having been offered once ^(BF)to bear the sins of ^(BG)many, will appear ^(BH)a second time, ^(BI)not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly ^(BJ)waiting for him.

Footnotes

Hebrews 9:2 Or tabernacle; also verses 11, 21
Hebrews 9:2 Greek the presentation of the loaves
Hebrews 9:3 Greek tent; also verses 6, 8
Hebrews 9:9 Or which is symbolic for the age then present
Hebrews 9:11 Some manuscripts good things to come
Hebrews 9:13 Or For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies
Hebrews 9:14 Some manuscripts your
Hebrews 9:15 The Greek word means both covenant and will; also verses 16, 17