Beginning
Habakkuk Calls for Help
1 The [a](A)oracle which Habakkuk the prophet beheld.
2 (B)How long, O [b]Yahweh, will I call for help,
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do (C)not save.
3 Why do You make me (D)see wickedness
And cause me to look on trouble?
Indeed, (E)devastation and violence are before me;
(F)And there is strife, and contention is lifted up.
4 Therefore the (G)law is [c]ignored,
And justice never comes forth.
For the wicked (H)surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes forth (I)perverted.
Yahweh Raises the Dreaded Chaldeans
5 “(J)See among the nations! And look!
Be also astonished! (K)Be astounded!
Because I am doing (L)something in your days—
You would not believe if it was recounted to you.
6 For behold, I am (M)raising up the Chaldeans,
That bitter and hasty nation
Who walks on the breadth of the land
To (N)possess dwelling places which are not theirs.
7 They are dreaded and (O)feared;
Their (P)justice and exaltation come forth from themselves.
8 Their (Q)horses are swifter than leopards
And [d]sharper than (R)wolves in the evening.
Their [e]horsemen come galloping;
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an (S)eagle swooping down to devour.
9 All of them come for violence.
[f]Their horde of (T)faces moves forward.
And they gather captives like sand.
10 And they (U)mock at kings,
And rulers are a laughing matter to them.
They (V)laugh at every fortress
And (W)heap up dirt and capture it.
11 Then they will sweep through like the (X)wind and pass on.
But they will be held (Y)guilty,
They whose (Z)power is their god.”
Yahweh Has Placed Them to Judge
12 Are You not from (AA)everlasting,
O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, O Yahweh, have (AB)placed them to judge;
And You, O (AC)Rock, have established them to reprove.
13 Your eyes are too (AD)pure to see evil,
And You cannot look on trouble.
Why do You (AE)look
On those who deal (AF)treacherously?
Why are You (AG)silent when the wicked (AH)swallow up
Those more righteous than they?
14 And You have made men like the fish of the sea,
Like creeping things without a ruler over them.
15 The Chaldeans (AI)bring all of them up with a hook,
(AJ)Drag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they are glad and rejoice.
16 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And [g]burn incense to their fishing net
Because through (AK)these things their portion is rich
And their food is fat.
17 Will they therefore empty their (AL)net
And continually (AM)kill nations without sparing?
The Righteous Will Live by His Faith
2 I will (AN)stand on my guard post
And station myself on the fortification;
And I will (AO)keep watch to see (AP)what He will speak to me
And how I may respond [h]when I am reproved.
2 Then Yahweh answered me and said,
“(AQ)Write down the vision
And write it on tablets distinctly,
That [i]the one who [j]reads it may run.
3 For the vision is yet for the (AR)appointed time;
It pants toward its end, and it will not [k]lie.
Though it tarries, (AS)wait for it;
For it will certainly come; it (AT)will not delay.
4 “Behold, as for the (AU)proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the (AV)righteous will live by his [l]faith.
5 And indeed, (AW)wine betrays the (AX)haughty man
So that he does not (AY)stay at home.
He (AZ)enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all nations
And assembles to himself all peoples.
6 “Will not all of these (BA)lift up a taunt-song against him,
Even satire and riddles against him
And say, ‘(BB)Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself [m]rich with loans?’
7 Will not [n]your creditors (BC)rise up suddenly,
And those who make you tremble awaken?
Indeed, you will become spoil for them.
8 Because you have (BD)taken many nations as spoil,
All that is left of the peoples will take you as spoil—
Because of human bloodshed and violence [o]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
9 “Woe to him who is greedy for (BE)evil gain for his house
To (BF)put his nest on high,
To be delivered from the hand of evil!
10 You have counseled a (BG)shameful thing for your house
By cutting off many peoples;
So you are (BH)sinning against your own soul.
11 Surely the (BI)stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the [p]framework.
12 “Woe to him who (BJ)builds a city with bloodshed
And founds a town with injustice!
13 Is it not, behold, from Yahweh of hosts
That peoples (BK)toil for fire,
And nations grow weary for nothing?
14 For the earth will be (BL)filled
With the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh,
As the waters cover the sea.
15 “Woe to you who make [q]your neighbors drink,
Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk
So as to look on their nakedness!
16 You will be filled with disgrace rather than glory.
Now you yourself (BM)drink and [r]expose your own nakedness.
The (BN)cup in Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you,
And (BO)utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
17 For the (BP)violence [s]done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the devastation of its beasts [t]by which you terrified them,
(BQ)Because of human bloodshed and (BR)violence [u]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
18 “What (BS)profit is the graven image when its maker has engraved it,
Or a molten image, a (BT)teacher of [v]lies?
For its maker (BU)trusts in his own making
When he fashions speechless idols.
19 Woe to him who (BV)says to a piece of wood, ‘(BW)Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
And that is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with (BX)gold and silver,
And there is (BY)no breath at all inside it.
20 But (BZ)Yahweh is in His holy temple.
[w]Let all the earth (CA)be silent before Him.”
Yet I Will Exalt in Yahweh
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to [x]Shigionoth.
2 O Yahweh, I have (CB)heard [y]the report about You, and [z]I (CC)fear.
O Yahweh, (CD)revive (CE)Your work in the midst of the years;
In the midst of the years make it known;
In rage remember (CF)compassion.
3 God comes from (CG)Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount (CH)Paran. Selah.
His (CI)splendor covers the heavens,
And the (CJ)earth is full of His praise.
4 His (CK)brightness is like the sunlight;
He has rays flashing from His hand,
And there is the hiding of His (CL)strength.
5 Before Him goes (CM)pestilence,
And (CN)plague comes [aa]after Him.
6 He stood and [ab]measured out the earth;
He looked and (CO)startled the nations.
So the perpetual mountains were shattered;
The ancient hills [ac]collapsed.
His ways are (CP)everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under (CQ)wickedness;
The tent curtains of the land of (CR)Midian were trembling.
8 Did Yahweh’s fury burn against the (CS)rivers,
Or was Your anger against the rivers,
Or was Your wrath against the (CT)sea,
That You (CU)rode on Your horses,
On Your (CV)chariots of salvation?
9 Your (CW)bow was made bare;
Rods were sworn unto battle by word. Selah.
You (CX)split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and writhed;
The downpour of waters passed by.
The deep (CY)gave forth its voice;
It lifted high its hands.
11 (CZ)Sun and moon stood in their lofty places;
They went away at the (DA)light of Your arrows,
At the brightness of Your flashing spear.
12 In indignation You (DB)marched through the earth;
In anger You [ad](DC)trampled the nations.
13 You went forth for the (DD)salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your (DE)anointed.
You crushed the (DF)head of the house of the wicked
To lay him bare from [ae]thigh to neck. Selah.
14 You pierced with his (DG)own sharpened rods
The head of his [af]throngs.
They (DH)stormed in to scatter [ag]us;
Their exultation was like those
Who (DI)devour the afflicted in secret.
15 You (DJ)tread on the sea with Your horses,
On the (DK)surge of many waters.
16 I heard, and my [ah]inward parts (DL)trembled;
At the sound my lips tingled.
Decay enters my (DM)bones,
And in my place I tremble.
Because I must (DN)wait quietly for the day of distress,
[ai]For the (DO)people to arise who will invade us.
17 Though the (DP)fig tree should not blossom
And there be no produce on the vines,
Though the yield of the (DQ)olive should fail
And the fields yield no food,
Though the (DR)flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be (DS)no cattle in the stalls,
18 Yet I will (DT)exult in Yahweh;
I will (DU)rejoice in the (DV)God of my salvation.
19 Yahweh, the Lord, is my [aj](DW)strength,
And (DX)He has set my feet like hinds’ feet
And makes me tread on my (DY)high places.
[ak]For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.
Yahweh Will End All Things
1 The word of [a]Yahweh which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of (A)Josiah son of (B)Amon, king of Judah:
2 “I will completely (C)end all things
From the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.
3 “I will end (D)man and beast;
I will end the (E)birds of the sky
And the fish of the sea
And the [b](F)ruins along with the wicked;
And I will cut off man from the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.
4 “So I will (G)stretch out My hand against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will (H)cut off the remnant of Baal from this place,
And the names of the (I)idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 And those who worship on the (J)housetops the host of heaven,
And those who worship and (K)swear to Yahweh and yet swear by [c](L)Milcom,
6 And those who have (M)turned back from following Yahweh,
And those who have (N)not sought Yahweh or inquired of Him.”
The Day of Yahweh Is Near
7 [d](O)Be silent before Lord Yahweh!
For the (P)day of Yahweh is near,
For Yahweh has prepared a (Q)sacrifice;
He has (R)set apart His guests.
8 “Then it will be on the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice
That I will (S)punish the princes, the king’s sons,
And all who clothe themselves with (T)foreign garments.
9 And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold,
Who fill the house of their [e]Lord with (U)violence and deceit.
10 And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,
“That there will be the sound of a cry from the (V)Fish Gate
And a wail from the [f](W)Second Quarter
And a great destruction from the (X)hills.
11 Wail, O inhabitants of the [g]Mortar,
For all the [h]people of (Y)Canaan will be silenced;
All who weigh out (Z)silver will be cut off.
12 And it will be at that time
That I will (AA)search Jerusalem with lamps,
And I will punish the men
Who are [i](AB)stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘Yahweh will (AC)not do good or evil!’
13 And it will be that their wealth will become (AD)spoil
And their houses desolate;
Indeed, (AE)they will build houses but not inhabit them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”
14 Near is the (AF)great (AG)day of Yahweh,
Near and coming very quickly;
O the sound, the day of Yahweh!
[j]In it the mighty man (AH)cries out bitterly.
15 A day of fury is that day,
A day of (AI)trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of (AJ)darkness and thick darkness,
A day of clouds and dense gloom,
16 A day of (AK)trumpet and loud shouting
Against the (AL)fortified cities
And the high corner towers.
17 I will bring (AM)distress on men
So that they will walk (AN)like the blind
Because they have sinned against Yahweh;
And their (AO)blood will be poured out like dust
And their (AP)flesh like dung.
18 Neither their (AQ)silver nor their gold
Will be able to deliver them
On the day of the fury of Yahweh;
And (AR)all the earth will be devoured
In the fire of His jealousy,
For He will (AS)make a complete destruction,
Indeed a terrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Seek Yahweh Before His Day of Anger
2 Gather yourselves together, indeed, (AT)gather,
O nation (AU)without [k]shame,
2 Before the decree [l]takes effect—
The day passes (AV)like the chaff—
Before the (AW)burning anger of Yahweh comes upon you,
Before the (AX)day of Yahweh’s anger comes upon you.
3 (AY)Seek Yahweh,
All you (AZ)humble of the [m]earth
Who have worked His justice;
(BA)Seek righteousness, seek humility.
Perhaps you will be (BB)hidden
In the day of Yahweh’s anger.
4 For (BC)Gaza will be [n]forsaken
And Ashkelon a desolation;
(BD)Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
And (BE)Ekron will be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the [o](BF)Cherethites!
The word of Yahweh is (BG)against you,
O (BH)Canaan, land of the Philistines;
And I will (BI)make you perish
So that there will be (BJ)no inhabitant.
6 So the seacoast will be (BK)pastures,
With [p]caves for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7 And the coast will be
For the (BL)remnant of the house of Judah;
They will (BM)feed upon it.
In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;
For Yahweh their God will (BN)care for them
And (BO)restore their fortune.
8 “I have heard the (BP)reproach of Moab
And the (BQ)revilings of the sons of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people
And (BR)magnified themselves against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares Yahweh of hosts,
The God of Israel,
“Surely (BS)Moab will be like (BT)Sodom
And the sons of (BU)Ammon like (BV)Gomorrah—
A place possessed by nettles and salt pits,
And a perpetual desolation.
The remnant of My people will (BW)plunder them,
And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”
10 This they will have in return for their (BX)pride because they have (BY)reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of hosts. 11 Yahweh will be (BZ)fearsome to them, for He will [q]starve (CA)all the gods of the earth; and all the (CB)coastlands of the nations will (CC)bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.
12 “You also, O (CD)Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”
13 And He will (CE)stretch out His hand against the north
And cause (CF)Assyria to perish,
And He will make (CG)Nineveh a desolation,
Parched like the wilderness.
14 Flocks will lie down in her midst,
All the beasts of the nation;
Both the [r](CH)pelican and the hedgehog
Will lodge in [s]the tops of her pillars;
Their voice will sing in the window,
Ruin will be on the threshold;
For He has laid bare the cedar work.
15 This is the (CI)exultant city
Which (CJ)inhabits securely,
Who says in her heart,
“(CK)I am, and there is no one besides me.”
How she has become an object of (CL)horror,
A resting place for beasts!
(CM)Everyone who passes by her will hiss
And wave his hand in contempt.
The Unjust Knows No Shame
3 Woe to her who is (CN)rebellious and (CO)defiled,
The oppressive (CP)city!
2 She (CQ)did not listen to any voice;
She (CR)did not receive discipline.
She did not (CS)trust in Yahweh;
She did not (CT)draw near to her God.
3 Her (CU)princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are (CV)wolves at evening;
They leave nothing to gnaw for the morning.
4 Her prophets are (CW)reckless, treacherous men;
Her (CX)priests have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the law.
5 Yahweh is (CY)righteous (CZ)in her midst;
He will (DA)do no injustice.
(DB)Every morning He brings His justice to light;
[t]He does not fail.
But the unjust (DC)knows no shame.
6 “I have cut off nations;
Their corner towers are desolate.
I have made their streets (DD)a waste,
With no one passing by;
Their (DE)cities are laid waste,
Without a man, (DF)without an inhabitant.
7 I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,
(DG)Receive discipline.’
So her abode will (DH)not be cut off
According to all that I have appointed concerning her.
But they were eager to (DI)corrupt all their deeds.
Yahweh Will Pour Out His Anger
8 “Therefore (DJ)wait for Me,” declares Yahweh,
“For the day when I rise up as a witness.
Indeed, My judgment is to (DK)assemble nations,
To gather kingdoms,
To pour out on them My indignation,
All My burning anger;
For (DL)all the earth will be devoured
By the fire of My zeal.
9 For then I will change them to peoples with (DM)purified lips,
That all of them may (DN)call on the name of Yahweh,
To serve Him [u]shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of [v](DO)Ethiopia
My [w]worshipers, [x]My scattered ones,
Will (DP)bring My offerings.
11 In that day you will (DQ)feel no shame
Because of all your deeds
By which you have transgressed against Me;
For then I will remove from your midst
Your (DR)proud, exulting ones,
And you will never again be haughty
On My (DS)holy mountain.
12 But I will cause to remain in your midst
A [y](DT)lowly and poor people,
And they will (DU)take refuge in the name of Yahweh.
13 The (DV)remnant of Israel will (DW)do no injustice
And (DX)not speak falsehood,
Nor will a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths;
For they will (DY)feed and lie down
With no one to make them tremble.”
Yahweh’s Joy in Restoring Israel
14 Sing for joy, O daughter of Zion!
(DZ)Make a loud shout, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 Yahweh has taken away (EA)His judgments against you;
He has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, Yahweh, is (EB)in your midst;
You will (EC)fear evil no more.
16 (ED)In that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“(EE)Do not fear, O Zion;
(EF)Do not let your hands fall limp.
17 Yahweh your God is (EG)in your midst,
A (EH)mighty one who will save.
He will (EI)be joyful over you with gladness;
He will [z]be quiet in His love;
He will rejoice over you with joyful singing.
18 I will assemble those who (EJ)grieve about the appointed feasts—
They were from you, O Zion;
The reproach of exile is a burden on [aa]them.
19 Behold, I am going to deal at that time
With all those who (EK)afflict you,
And I will save the (EL)lame
And gather the banished,
And I will turn them—in their (EM)shame—into (EN)praise and a name
In all the earth.
20 At that time I will (EO)bring you in,
Even at the time when I gather you together;
Indeed, I will give you to be a (EP)name and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I (EQ)restore your fortunes before your eyes,”
Says Yahweh.
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