Habakkuk 2
2
1I will stand like a guard to watch
and place myself at the tower.
I will wait to see what he will say to me;
I will wait to learn how God will answer my complaint.
The Lord Answers
2The Lord answered me:
“Write down the vision;
write it clearly on clay tablets
so whoever reads it can run to tell others.
3It is not yet time for the message to come true,
but that time is coming soon;
the message will come true.
It may seem like a long time,
but be patient and wait for it,
because it will surely come;
it will not be delayed.
4The evil nation is very proud of itself;
it is not living as it should.
But those who are right with God will live by faith.
5“Just as wine can trick a person,
those who are too proud will not last,
because their desire is like a grave’s desire for death,
and like death they always want more.
They gather other nations for themselves
and collect for themselves all the countries.
6But all the nations the Babylonians have hurt will laugh at them.
They will make fun of the Babylonians
and say, ‘How terrible it will be for the one that steals many things.
How long will that nation get rich by forcing others to pay them?’
7“One day the people from whom you have taken money will turn against you.
They will realize what is happening and make you shake with fear.
Then they will take everything you have.
8Because you have stolen from many nations,
those who are left will take much from you.
This is because you have killed many people,
destroying countries and cities and everyone in them.
9“How terrible it will be for the nation that becomes rich by doing wrong,
thinking they will live in a safe place
and escape harm.
10Because you have made plans to destroy many people,
you have made your own houses ashamed of you.
Because of it, you will lose your lives.
11The stones of the walls will cry out against you,
and the boards that support the roof will agree that you are wrong.
12“How terrible it will be for the nation that kills people to build a city,
that wrongs others to start a town.
13The Lord All-Powerful will send fire
to destroy what those people have built;
all the nations’ work will be for nothing.
14Then, just as water covers the sea,
people everywhere will know the Lord’s glory.
15“How terrible for the nation that makes its neighbors drink,
pouring from the jug of wine until they are drunk
so that it can look at their naked bodies.
16You Babylonians will be filled with disgrace, not respect.
It’s your turn to drink and fall to the ground like a drunk person.
The cup of anger from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you.
You will receive disgrace, not respect.
17You hurt many people in Lebanon,
but now you will be hurt.
You killed many animals there,
and now you must be afraid
because of what you did
to that land, those cities, and the people who lived in them.
The Message About Idols
18“An idol does no good, because a human made it;
it is only a statue that teaches lies.
The one who made it expects his own work to help him,
but he makes idols that can’t even speak!
19How terrible it will be for the one who says to a wooden statue, ‘Come to life!’
How terrible it will be for the one who says to a silent stone, ‘Get up!’
It cannot tell you what to do.
It is only a statue covered with gold and silver;
there is no life in it.
20The Lord is in his Holy Temple;
all the earth should be silent in his presence.”
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Habakkuk 2: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Habakkuk 2
2
1I will #Is. 21:8, 11stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.
The Just Live by Faith
2Then the Lord answered me and said:
#Is. 8:1“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
3For #Dan. 8:17, 19; 10:14the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will #Ezek. 12:24, 25not lie.
Though it tarries, #(Heb. 10:37, 38)wait for it;
Because it will #Ps. 27:13, 14; (James 5:7, 8; 2 Pet. 3:9)surely come,
It will not tarry.
4“Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the #(John 3:36); Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:38just shall live by his faith.
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 #Prov. 27:20; 30:16; Is. 5:11–15enlarges his desire as 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 #Mic. 2:4take 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 many pledges’?
7Will not your creditors rise up suddenly?
Will they not awaken who oppress you?
And you will become their booty.
8#Is. 33:1; Jer. 27:7; Ezek. 39:10; Zech. 2:8Because you have plundered many nations,
All the remnant of the people shall plunder you,
Because of men’s 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 #Jer. 49:16; Obad. 4set his nest on high,
That he may be delivered from the power of disaster!
10You give shameful counsel to your house,
Cutting off many peoples,
And sin against your soul.
11For 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!
13Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts
That the peoples labor to feed the fire,
And nations weary themselves in vain?
14For 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,
Pressing him to your #Hos. 7:5bottle,
Even to make him drunk,
That you may look on his nakedness!
16You are filled with shame instead of glory.
You also—drink!
And 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.
17For 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?
19Woe 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#Zeph. 1:7; Zech. 2:13 the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.