Habakkuk 1
1
1The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
3Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
The Lord’s Answer
5“Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
6I am raising up the Babylonians,#1:6 Or Chaldeans
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwellings not their own.
7They are a feared and dreaded people;
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
8Their horses are swifter than leopards,
fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes#1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners like sand.
10They mock kings
and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen ramps they capture them.
11Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, you#1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we will never die.
You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment;
you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.
13Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
14You have made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks,
he catches them in his net,
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
16Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
17Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?
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Habakkuk 1: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Ḥaḇaqquq (Habakkuk) 1
1
1The message which the prophet Ḥaḇaqquq saw.
2O יהוה, till when shall I cry, and You not hear? I cry to You, “Violence!” and You do not save.
3Why do You show me wickedness, and cause me to see perversity? For ruin and violence are before me. And there is strife, and contention arises.
4Therefore the Torah ceases, and right-ruling never goes forth. For the wrong hem in the righteous, so that right-ruling comes out twisted.
5“Look among the nations and see, and be amazed, be amazed! For a work is being wrought in your days which you would not believe if it were told.
6“See, I am raising up the Kasdim, a bitter and hasty nation, who is going through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
7“They are frightening and fearsome, their right-ruling and their exaltation proceed from themselves.
8“Their horses shall be swifter than leopards, and more fierce than evening wolves. And their horsemen shall charge ahead, and their horsemen come from afar. They fly as the eagle, rushing to eat.
9“All of them come for violence, the direction of their faces is like the east wind, and they gather captives like sand.
10“And they scoff at sovereigns, and princes are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they pile up earth and seize it.
11“Then shall he pass on as a wind, and transgress and be guilty, and ascribe this power to his mighty one.”
12Are You not from everlasting, O יהוה my Elohim, my Set-apart One? You do not die! O יהוה, You have appointed them for right-ruling, O Rock, You have established them for reproof.
13You, whose eyes are too clean to see evil, You are not able to look on wrong. Why do You look on those who act treacherously – keep silent when the wrong devours one more righteous than he?
14And would You make men like fish of the sea, like creeping creatures that have no ruler over them?
15The wicked foe has pulled all of them up with a hook, caught them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and exults.
16Therefore he slaughters to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, for by them is his portion fat and his food is rich.
17Is he therefore to keep on emptying his net, and killing nations without sparing?
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