Beginning

Habakkuk’s Question

1 This is the special word which Habakkuk the man of God saw. ² O Lord, how long must I call for help before You will hear? I cry out to You, “We are being hurt!” But You do not save us. ³ Why do you make me see sins and wrong-doing? People are being destroyed in anger in front of me. There is arguing and fighting. ⁴ The Law is not followed. What is right is never done. For the sinful are all around those who are right and good, so what is right looks like sin.

The Lord’s Answer

⁵ “Look among the nations, and see! Be surprised and full of wonder! For I am doing something in your days that you would not believe if you were told. ⁶ I am bringing the Babylonians to power. They are people filled with anger who go across the whole earth to take homes that are not theirs. ⁷ They fill others with fear. They make their own law about what is fair and honored. ⁸ Their horses are faster than leopards, and show less pity than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come on running horses from far away. They fly like an eagle coming down to get food. ⁹ They all come in anger. Their armies move like the desert wind. They gather prisoners like sand. ¹⁰ They make fun of kings and laugh at rulers. They laugh at every strong city and build a battle-wall to take it. ¹¹ Then they move through like the wind and keep going. They are guilty men, whose strength is their god.”

Habakkuk’s Second Question

¹² Have You not lived forever, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O Lord, You have chosen them to judge. You, O Rock, have chosen them to punish us. ¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look at sin. You cannot look on wrong. Why then do You look with favor on those who do wrong? Why are You quiet when the sinful destroy those who are more right and good than they? ¹⁴ Why have You made men like the fish of the sea, like things which move along the ground that have no ruler? ¹⁵ The Babylonians bring all of them up with a hook, and pull them away with their net. They gather them together in their fishing net, and so they have joy and are glad. ¹⁶ So they give gifts in worship to their net. They burn special perfume to their fishing net, because their net catches all the good things and good food they need. ¹⁷ Will they empty their net forever and keep on destroying nations without pity?

2 I will take my stand and keep watch. I will take my place on the tower. And I will keep watch to see what the Lord will say, and how I should answer when He speaks strong words to me.

The Lord’s Answer to Habakkuk

² Then the Lord answered me and said, “Write down the special dream on stone so that one may read it in a hurry. ³ For it is not yet time for it to come true. The time is coming in a hurry, and it will come true. If you think it is slow in coming, wait for it. For it will happen for sure, and it will not wait. ⁴ As for the proud one, his soul is not right in him. But the one who is right and good will live by his faith.

It Is Bad for the Wrong-Doers

⁵ “Also, wine fools the proud man, so he does not stay at home. He is like the grave who always wants more. Like death, he never has enough. He gathers all nations for himself, and gathers all people for his own. ⁶ “Will not all these people make fun of him and say, ‘It is bad for him who gathers what is not his and makes himself rich with other people’s money. How long will this go on?’ ⁷ Will not those to whom you owe money rise up all at once? Will they not wake up and make you afraid? Then they will take what belongs to you. ⁸ Because you have robbed many nations, the rest of them will rob you. For you have killed men. You have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

⁹ “It is bad for him who builds his house by sinful ways, to put his nest in a high place to be safe from trouble! ¹⁰ You have brought shame upon your house by destroying many nations. You are sinning against yourself. ¹¹ The stone will cry out from the wall, and the roof will answer it from the wood.

¹² “It is bad for him who builds a city with blood, and builds a town with wrong-doing! ¹³ Is it not the will of the All-powerful Lord that people work for what will burn up and nations make themselves tired for nothing? ¹⁴ For the earth will be filled with knowing of the Lord’s shining-greatness, as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁵ “It is bad for him who makes his neighbors drink, mixing in his poison to make them drunk, so he can look on their shame! ¹⁶ You will be filled with shame instead of honor. Now you yourself drink and let your own shame be seen. The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and your greatness will turn to shame. ¹⁷ The bad things you have done to Lebanon will come back to you. Because you have killed its animals, now they will make you afraid. This will happen because of all the killing you have done. You have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

¹⁸ “Of what worth is a false god when a workman has made it? Of what worth is an object of worship, a teacher of lies? For the workman trusts in his own work when he makes these false gods that cannot speak. ¹⁹ It is bad for him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Wake up!’ or to a stone that cannot speak, ‘Get up!’ Can this teach you? See, it is covered with gold and silver. There is no breath in it. ²⁰ But the Lord is in His holy house. Let all the earth be quiet before Him.”

Habakkuk’s Prayer

3 Shigionoth tells of this prayer of Habakkuk, the man of God.

² O Lord, I have heard of what You have done, and I am filled with fear. O Lord, do again in our times the great things which You have done before. Remember to show loving-kindness, even when You are angry.

³ God comes from Teman. The Holy One comes from Mount Paran. His shining-greatness covers the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise. ⁴ He is as bright as the sun. He has light shining from His hand, where His power is hidden. ⁵ Disease goes before Him, and much trouble comes after Him. ⁶ He stood and looked over the earth. He looked and shook the nations. The lasting mountains were broken to pieces, and the old hills fell down. His ways last forever. ⁷ I saw the tents of Cushan in trouble. The tent curtains of the land of Midian were shaking.

⁸ Were You angry with the rivers, O Lord? Was Your anger against the rivers? Or were You angry with the sea? You rode on Your horses. You rode on Your war-wagons saving people. ⁹ You took the covering off Your bow and put the arrows to the string. You divided the earth with rivers. ¹⁰ The mountains saw You and shook. The flood of waters flowed by. The sea made its noise and its waves rose high. ¹¹ The sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the light of Your arrows, at the shining of Your spear. ¹² You walked over the earth in Your anger. In anger You crushed the nations under foot. ¹³ You went to save Your people, to save Your chosen ones. You crushed the leader of the land of the sinful and laid him open from thighs to neck. ¹⁴ With his own spear You cut through the head of his soldiers. They came like a storm to send us everywhere, finding joy as if they were destroying in secret those who had it very hard. ¹⁵ You stepped on the sea with Your horses, on the waves of many waters.

¹⁶ I heard and my body shook. My lips shook at the sound. My bones began to waste away and my legs shook. Yet I will be quiet and wait for the day of trouble to come upon the people who fight against us. ¹⁷ Even if the fig tree does not grow figs and there is no fruit on the vines, even if the olives do not grow and the fields give no food, even if there are no sheep within the fence and no cattle in the cattle-building, ¹⁸ yet I will have joy in the Lord. I will be glad in the God Who saves me. ¹⁹ The Lord God is my strength. He has made my feet like the feet of a deer, and He makes me walk on high places.

This is for the song leader, on my different kinds of harps.

1 This is the Word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Godaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.

The Day of the Lord Is Near

² “I will take away everything from the earth,” says the Lord. ³ “I will take away man and animal. I will take away the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea. I will destroy the sinful. And I will take man from off the earth,” says the Lord. ⁴ “I will put out My hand against Judah and against all the people of Jerusalem. I will destroy from this place the rest of the people who worship Baal, and the names of the religious leaders who worship false gods. ⁵ I will destroy those who bow down on the roofs to the stars of heaven, and those who bow down and make promises to the Lord and yet promise in the name of Milcom. ⁶ I will destroy those who have turned back from following the Lord, and those who have not looked for the Lord or prayed to Him.”

⁷ Be quiet before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has made a gift ready for the altar. He has made holy those whom He has asked to come. ⁸ “On the day of the Lord’s gift, I will punish the leaders, the king’s sons, and all who dress themselves with strange clothes. ⁹ On that day I will punish everyone who is quick to jump through the door, who fill the house of their owner with angry actions and lies. ¹⁰ On that day,” says the Lord, “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate. A cry of sorrow will be heard from the new part of the city, and a loud noise from the hills. ¹¹ Cry in a loud voice, you people who live in the part of the city where people buy and sell. For all the traders of Canaan will be destroyed. All who weigh out silver will be cut off. ¹² At that time I will look through Jerusalem with a light and will punish those who take it easy and do not care what happens. They say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good or bad.’ ¹³ Their riches will be taken from them and their houses will be laid waste. They will build houses but not live in them. They will plant grape-fields but not drink their wine.”

¹⁴ The great day of the Lord is near. It is near and coming soon. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord! The man of war will cry out with a bitter cry. ¹⁵ That day is a day of anger, a day of trouble and suffering, a day when much will be destroyed, a day of darkness, a day of clouds and much darkness. ¹⁶ It is a day of the sound of a horn and the cry of battle against the strong cities and the high towers. ¹⁷ I will bring trouble to men so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like body waste. ¹⁸ Their silver and gold will not be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s anger. All the earth will be destroyed in the fire of His jealousy. For all at once He will make an end of all the people of the earth.

A Call to Turn from Sin

2 Gather together. Gather together, O nation without shame, ² before you are driven away like the waste from the grain. Gather together before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger. ³ Look for the Lord, all you people of the earth who are not proud, and who have obeyed His Laws. Look for what is right and good. Have no pride. You may be kept safe on the day of the Lord’s anger.

The Nations around Israel Are Judged

⁴ For Gaza will be left empty. Ashkelon will be laid waste. Ashdod’s people will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be pulled up by the roots. ⁵ It is bad for the people who live by the sea, the nation of the Cherethites! The Word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines. I will destroy you so that no people will be left living in you. ⁶ The land by the sea will be open fields, a place for shepherds and fences for sheep. ⁷ The land by the sea will be for those left of the people of Judah. They will let their flocks eat there. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. For the Lord their God will care for them and return their riches.

⁸ “I have heard how Moab has made fun of My people and the sons of Ammon have spoken strong words against them. They have spoken in pride against My people’s land. ⁹ So as I live,” says the Lord of All, the God of Israel, “Moab will be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon will be like Gomorrah, a land taken over by thistles and salt, a waste land forever. Those left of My people will rob them. Those left of My nation will take their land.” ¹⁰ This will happen to them because of their pride, because they have made fun of the people of the Lord of All. ¹¹ They will be filled with fear because of the Lord. He will destroy all the gods of the earth. All the nations beside the sea will worship Him, every one in his own land. ¹² “You also, O Ethiopians, will be killed by My sword.” ¹³ He will put out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria. And He will destroy Nineveh, making it a waste land like the desert. ¹⁴ Flocks will lie down in it, all the animals of the field. The pelican and the hedgehog will live in the tops of its pillars. Birds will sing in the window. And the doorways will be broken down. The pieces of cedar will not be covered. ¹⁵ This is the city that is full of joy and takes it easy and thinks it is safe. It says to itself, “I am, and there is no one else.” How it has become a waste, a resting place for animals! All who pass by will make fun of her and laugh at her shaking their hands.

Jerusalem’s Sin

3 It is bad for her who does not obey and is unclean, the city who makes it hard for the people! ² She does not listen to anyone and will not be taught. She did not trust in the Lord. She does not come near to her God. ³ Her leaders are lions that make a loud noise. Her judges are wolves at evening. They leave nothing for the morning. ⁴ Her men who tell what is going to happen in the future are proud and cannot be trusted. Her religious leaders have made the holy place unclean. They have turned in anger against the Law. ⁵ The Lord within her is right and good. He will be fair and do nothing wrong. Every morning He brings to light what is fair. Every new day He is faithful. But the one who does wrong knows no shame. ⁶ “I have cut off nations. Their towers are destroyed. I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them. Their cities are laid waste, and no one lives in them. ⁷ I said, ‘For sure you will honor Me with fear and receive teaching.’ Then her place would not be destroyed and she would not be punished as I had planned. But they were quick to make all their works sinful.

⁸ “So wait for Me,” says the Lord, “for the day when I stand up to speak. I have decided to gather nations together to pour My burning anger upon them. All the earth will be destroyed by the fire of My jealous anger. ⁹ Then I will make the lips of the people pure. And all of them will call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him shoulder to shoulder. ¹⁰ Those who worship Me and have been driven away will bring My gifts in worship from the other side of the rivers of Ethiopia. ¹¹ On that day you will not be put to shame because of all the works you have done against Me. For then I will take away all your people who find joy in their pride. And you will never be proud again on My holy mountain. ¹² But I will leave among you people who are not proud, and they will be safe in the name of the Lord. ¹³ The people of Israel who are left will do no wrong and tell no lies. A lying tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down with no one to make them afraid.”

A Song of Joy

¹⁴ Sing, O people of Zion! Call out, O Israel! Have joy and be happy with all your heart, O people of Jerusalem! ¹⁵ The Lord has taken away your punishment. He has taken away those who hate you. The King of Israel, the Lord, is with you. You will not be afraid of trouble any more. ¹⁶ On that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion. Do not let your hands lose their strength. ¹⁷ The Lord your God is with you, a Powerful One Who wins the battle. He will have much joy over you. With His love He will give you new life. He will have joy over you with loud singing. ¹⁸ I will gather those who have sorrow for the special days, and take away their shame. ¹⁹ At that time I will punish all those who made it hard for you. I will save those who cannot walk and gather those who have been driven away. And I will turn their shame into praise. They will be known all over the earth. ²⁰ At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you together. I will make you known all over the earth, and all the nations will praise you, when I return your riches before your eyes,” says the Lord.