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.”
Currently Selected:
Habakkuk 2: 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 2
2
1I will #Isa. 21:8 take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and #Jer. 6:17; Ezek. 33:2 look out to see #Ps. 85:8what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith
2And the Lord answered me:
#
Isa. 8:1; 30:8; [Rev. 1:19] “Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3For still #[Dan. 10:14]; See Ezek. 7:5-7 the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, #Zeph. 3:8; See Isa. 8:17 wait for it;
# Cited Heb. 10:37; [2 Pet. 3:9] it will surely come; it will not delay.
4“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but #Cited Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38; [John 3:36]the righteous shall live by his faith.#2:4 Or faithfulness
5“Moreover, wine#2:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth is #ch. 1:13; Isa. 21:2 a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.#2:5 The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death #[Prov. 27:20] he has never enough.
#
Jer. 27:7; [ch. 1:6; Dan. 2:37, 38] He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”
Woe to the Chaldeans
6Shall not all these #Mic. 2:4; See Num. 23:7 take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,
# ver. 19; Isa. 5:8 “Woe to him #[ch. 1:6] who heaps up what is not his own—
for #See Zech. 1:12 how long?—
and #[Ezek. 18:7]loads himself with pledges!”
7 # See Isa. 21:5-9 Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be spoil for them.
8 # [Isa. 33:1] Because you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
# ver. 17 for the blood of man and #[Isa. 33:1] violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
9 # [See ver. 6 above] “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
# [Isa. 14:13] to #Jer. 49:16; [Num. 24:21]set his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10You have devised shame for your house
# [ch. 1:17] by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11For #[Luke 19:40]the stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 # [See ver. 6 above] “Woe to him #See Mic. 3:10who builds a town with blood
and founds a city on iniquity!
13Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that #Jer. 51:58peoples labor merely for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 #
Isa. 11:9 For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of #Ps. 72:19the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
15 # [See ver. 6 above] “Woe to him #[ver. 5; Jer. 51:7] who makes his neighbors drink—
you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
in order to gaze #Lam. 4:21; [Gen. 9:22]at their nakedness!
16You will have your fill #Nah. 3:5 of shame instead of glory.
#
Jer. 25:15, 26 Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
#
Jer. 25:15, 26 The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and #[Nah. 3:6]utter shame will come upon your glory!
17 # ver. 8 The violence #[Isa. 14:8; Jer. 22:23]done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
# ver. 8 for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
18 #
Isa. 44:10 “What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, #Jer. 10:8, 14; Zech. 10:2 a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes #Ps. 115:5; 1 Cor. 12:2speechless idols!
19 # ver. 6, 9, 12, 15 Woe to him #See 1 Kgs. 18:26, 27 who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and #Ps. 135:17; Jer. 10:14there is no breath at all in it.
20But #Ps. 11:4; Mic. 1:2 the Lord is in his holy temple;
# [Zeph. 1:7; Zech. 2:13] let all the earth keep silence before him.”
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: