Habakkuk 1

New King James Version

The Prophet Questions God’s Judgments

1 The ^[a]burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.

The Prophet’s Question

²O Lord, how long shall I cry,
^(A)And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, ^(B)“Violence!”
And You will ^(C)not save.
³Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see ^[b]trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
⁴Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the ^(D)wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.

The Lord’s Reply

⁵“Look^(E) among the nations and watch—
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
⁶For indeed I am ^(F)raising up the Chaldeans,
A bitter and hasty ^(G)nation
Which marches through the breadth of the earth,
To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
⁷They are terrible and dreadful;
Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
⁸Their horses also are ^(H)swifter than leopards,
And more fierce than evening wolves.
Their ^[c]chargers ^[d]charge ahead;
Their cavalry comes from afar;
They fly as the ^(I)eagle that hastens to eat.

⁹“They all come for violence;
Their faces are set like the east wind.
They gather captives like sand.
¹⁰They scoff at kings,
And princes are scorned by them.
They deride every stronghold,
For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
¹¹Then his ^[e]mind changes, and he transgresses;
He commits offense,
^(J)Ascribing this power to his god.”

The Prophet’s Second Question

¹²Are You not ^(K)from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, ^(L)You have appointed them for judgment;
O Rock, You have marked them for ^(M)correction.
¹³You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,
And cannot look on wickedness.
Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours
A person more righteous than he?
¹⁴Why do You make men like fish of the sea,
Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?

¹⁵They take up all of them with a hook,
They catch them in their net,
And gather them in their dragnet.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
¹⁶Therefore ^(N)they sacrifice to their net,
And burn incense to their dragnet;
Because by them their share is ^[f]sumptuous
And their food plentiful.
¹⁷Shall they therefore empty their net,
And continue to slay nations without pity?

Footnotes

Habakkuk 1:1 oracle, prophecy
Habakkuk 1:3 Or toil
Habakkuk 1:8 Lit. horsemen
Habakkuk 1:8 Lit. spring about
Habakkuk 1:11 Lit. spirit or wind
Habakkuk 1:16 Lit. fat

2 John

New King James Version

Greeting the Elect Lady

¹The Elder,

To the ^[a]elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known ^(A)the truth, ²because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever:

³^(B)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with ^[b]you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Walk in Christ’s Commandments

⁴I ^(C)rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. ⁵And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: ^(D)that we love one another. ⁶^(E)This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that ^(F)as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

Beware of Antichrist Deceivers

⁷For ^(G)many deceivers have gone out into the world ^(H)who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. ^(I)This is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸^(J)Look to yourselves, ^(K)that ^[c]we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.

⁹^(L)Whoever ^[d]transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰If anyone comes to you and ^(M)does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; ¹¹for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

John’s Farewell Greeting

¹²^(N)Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, ^(O)that our joy may be full.

¹³^(P)The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.

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