Habakkuk 2:5-20
New King James Version
Woe to the Wicked
5 “Indeed, because he transgresses by wine,
He is a proud man,
And he does not stay at home.
Because he (A)enlarges his desire as [a]hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.
6 “Will not all these (B)take up a proverb against him,
And a taunting riddle against him, and say,
‘Woe to him who increases
What is not his—how long?
And to him who loads himself with [b]many pledges’?
7 Will not [c]your creditors rise up suddenly?
Will they not awaken who oppress you?
And you will become their booty.
8 (C)Because you have plundered many nations,
All the remnant of the people shall plunder you,
Because of men’s [d]blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
9 “Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house,
That he may (D)set his nest on high,
That he may be delivered from the [e]power of disaster!
10 You give shameful counsel to your house,
Cutting off many peoples,
And sin against your soul.
11 For the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the beam from the timbers will answer it.
12 “Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed,
Who establishes a city by iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts
That the peoples labor [f]to feed the fire,
And nations weary themselves in vain?
14 For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.
15 “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor,
[g]Pressing him to your (E)bottle,
Even to make him drunk,
That you may look on [h]his nakedness!
16 You are filled with shame instead of glory.
You also—drink!
And [i]be exposed as uncircumcised!
The cup of the Lord’s right hand will be turned against you,
And utter shame will be on your glory.
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid,
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
18 “What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of lies,
That the maker of its mold should trust in it,
To make mute idols?
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at all.
20 “But(F) the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:5 Or Sheol
- Habakkuk 2:6 Syr., Vg. thick clay
- Habakkuk 2:7 Lit. those who bite you
- Habakkuk 2:8 Or bloodshed
- Habakkuk 2:9 Lit. hand of evil
- Habakkuk 2:13 Lit. for what satisfies fire, for what is of no lasting value
- Habakkuk 2:15 Lit. Attaching or Joining
- Habakkuk 2:15 Lit. their
- Habakkuk 2:16 DSS, LXX reel!; Syr., Vg. fall fast asleep!
Habakkuk 2:5-20
Authorized (King James) Version
5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man,
neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell,
and is as death, and cannot be satisfied,
but gathereth unto him all nations,
and heapeth unto him all people:
6 shall not all these take up a parable against him,
and a taunting proverb against him,
and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long?
and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!
7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee,
and awake that shall vex thee,
and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations,
all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee;
because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land,
of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house,
that he may set his nest on high,
that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people,
and hast sinned against thy soul.
11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall,
and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood,
and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire,
and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink,
that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also,
that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
16 Thou art filled with shame for glory:
drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered:
the cup of the Lord’s right hand shall be turned unto thee,
and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee,
and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid,
because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land,
of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it;
the molten image, and a teacher of lies,
that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake;
to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach!
Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver,
and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple:
let all the earth keep silence before him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.