Habakkuk 1
1
1This is the message Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk Complains
2Lord, how long must I ask for help
and you ignore me?
I cry out to you about violence,
but you do not save us!
3Why do you make me see wrong things
and make me look at trouble?
People are destroying things and hurting others in front of me;
they are arguing and fighting.
4So the teachings are weak,
and justice never comes.
Evil people gain while good people lose;
the judges no longer make fair decisions.
The Lord Answers
5“Look at the nations!
Watch them and be amazed and shocked.
I will do something in your lifetime
that you won’t believe even when you are told about it.
6I will use the Babylonians,
those cruel and wild people
who march across the earth
and take lands that don’t belong to them.
7They scare and frighten people.
They do what they want to do
and are good only to themselves.
8Their horses are faster than leopards
and quicker than wolves at sunset.
Their horse soldiers attack quickly;
they come from places far away.
They attack quickly, like an eagle swooping down for food.
9They all come to fight.
Nothing can stop them.
Their prisoners are as many as the grains of sand.
10They laugh at kings
and make fun of rulers.
They laugh at all the strong, walled cities
and build dirt piles to the top of the walls to capture them.
11Then they leave like the wind and move on.
They are guilty of worshiping their own strength.”
Habakkuk Complains Again
12Lord, you live forever,
my God, my holy God.
We will not die.
Lord, you have chosen the Babylonians to punish people;
our Rock, you picked them to punish.
13Your eyes are too good to look at evil;
you cannot stand to see those who do wrong.
So how can you put up with those evil people?
How can you be quiet when the wicked swallow up people who are better than they are?
14You treat people like fish in the sea,
like sea animals without a leader.
15The enemy brings them in with hooks.
He catches them in his net
and drags them in his fishnet.
So he rejoices and sings for joy.
16The enemy offers sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to worship it,
because it lets him live like the rich
and enjoy the best food.
17Will he keep on taking riches with his net?
Will he go on destroying people without showing mercy?
Currently Selected:
Habakkuk 1: NCV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Habakkuk 1
1
1 # See Nah. 1:1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2O Lord, #Ps. 13:1; 89:46 how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you #Mic. 6:12“Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 # See Jer. 9:2-6 Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction #[See ver. 2 above]and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
4 # [Mic. 7:3] So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
# [Job 21:7; Jer. 12:1] For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.
The Lord’s Answer
5 # Cited Acts 13:41 “Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
# [Isa. 28:21; 29:14] For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6For behold, #See Jer. 5:15 I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
# [ch. 2:5] who march through the breadth of the earth,
# [ch. 2:6] to seize dwellings not their own.
7They are dreaded and fearsome;
# [ver. 10, 11] their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 #
Jer. 4:13 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than #Jer. 5:6; Zeph. 3:3 the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
# See Deut. 28:49 they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9They all come #[ch. 2:17] for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives #See Josh. 11:4like sand.
10At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
# [Nah. 3:12] They laugh at every fortress,
for #[Ezek. 4:2]they pile up earth and take it.
11Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
# [Hos. 13:16] guilty men, #[ver. 7]whose own might is their god!”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12Are you not #Deut. 33:27; Ps. 90:2; 93:2 from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
# [Mal. 3:6] We shall not die.
O Lord, #See Isa. 10:5-7 you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O #See Deut. 32:4Rock, have established them for reproof.
13You who are #[Ps. 5:5] of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
#
Jer. 12:1 why do you idly look at traitors
and #Ps. 35:22remain silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
14You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 #
Jer. 16:16; Amos 4:2 He#1:15 That is, the wicked foe brings all of them up #[Isa. 19:8]with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and is glad.
16 # [ver. 11] Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,#1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat
and his food is rich.
17Is he then to keep on emptying his net
# [ch. 2:10] and mercilessly killing nations forever?
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Sign up to receive news and updates about the ESV: