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“I cry out, ‘Help!’ but no one answers me.
    I protest, but there is no justice.

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Habakkuk’s Complaint

How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
    But you do not listen!
“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,
    but you do not come to save.
Must I forever see these evil deeds?
    Why must I watch all this misery?
Wherever I look,
    I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people
    who love to argue and fight.

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And though I cry and shout,
    he has shut out my prayers.

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20 “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer.
    I stand before you, but you don’t even look.

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When I speak, the words burst out.
    “Violence and destruction!” I shout.
So these messages from the Lord
    have made me a household joke.

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Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
    Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.

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“Will you discredit my justice
    and condemn me just to prove you are right?

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For Job also said, ‘I am innocent,
    but God has taken away my rights.

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35 “If only someone would listen to me!
    Look, I will sign my name to my defense.
Let the Almighty answer me.
    Let my accuser write out the charges against me.
36 I would face the accusation proudly.
    I would wear it like a crown.

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If only I knew where to find God,
    I would go to his court.
I would lay out my case
    and present my arguments.
Then I would listen to his reply
    and understand what he says to me.
Would he use his great power to argue with me?
    No, he would give me a fair hearing.
Honest people can reason with him,
    so I would be forever acquitted by my judge.

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27 “Look, I know what you’re thinking.
    I know the schemes you plot against me.

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21 I need someone to mediate between God and me,
    as a person mediates between friends.

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17 Yet I have done no wrong,
    and my prayer is pure.

18 “O earth, do not conceal my blood.
    Let it cry out on my behalf.
19 Even now my witness is in heaven.
    My advocate is there on high.

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15 God might kill me, but I have no other hope.[a]
    I am going to argue my case with him.
16 But this is what will save me—I am not godless.
    If I were, I could not stand before him.

17 “Listen closely to what I am about to say.
    Hear me out.
18 I have prepared my case;
    I will be proved innocent.
19 Who can argue with me over this?
    And if you prove me wrong, I will remain silent and die.

Job Asks How He Has Sinned

20 “O God, grant me these two things,
    and then I will be able to face you.
21 Remove your heavy hand from me,
    and don’t terrify me with your awesome presence.
22 Now summon me, and I will answer!
    Or let me speak to you, and you reply.
23 Tell me, what have I done wrong?
    Show me my rebellion and my sin.

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Footnotes

  1. 13:15 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads God might kill me, but I hope in him.

15 If I am guilty, too bad for me;
    and even if I’m innocent, I can’t hold my head high,
    because I am filled with shame and misery.
16 And if I hold my head high, you hunt me like a lion
    and display your awesome power against me.
17 Again and again you witness against me.
    You pour out your growing anger on me
    and bring fresh armies against me.

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What do you gain by oppressing me?
    Why do you reject me, the work of your own hands,
    while smiling on the schemes of the wicked?

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32 “God is not a mortal like me,
    so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.

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24 The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked,
    and God blinds the eyes of the judges.
    If he’s not the one who does it, who is?

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