Habakkuk 2
2
1I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.#2:1 Or and what to answer when I am rebuked
The Lord’s Answer
2Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald#2:2 Or so that whoever reads it may run with it.
3For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it#2:3 Or Though he linger, wait for him; / he will certainly come
and will not delay.
4“See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness#2:4 Or faith—
5indeed, wine betrays him;
he is arrogant and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
and like death is never satisfied,
he gathers to himself all the nations
and takes captive all the peoples.
6“Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying,
“ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
and makes himself wealthy by extortion!
How long must this go on?’
7Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
Then you will become their prey.
8Because you have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.
For you have shed human blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
9“Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain,
setting his nest on high
to escape the clutches of ruin!
10You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,
shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.
11The stones of the wall will cry out,
and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
12“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and establishes a town by injustice!
13Has not the Lord Almighty determined
that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
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 neighbors,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
16You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed#2:16 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint) and stagger!
The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
17The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and your destruction of animals will terrify you.
For you have shed human blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
18“Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.
19Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it.”
20The Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Habakkuk 2
2
1 #
Is 21.8. I will take my stand to watch,
and station myself on the tower,
and look forth to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
2And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
make it plain upon tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 #
Heb 10.37. For still the vision awaits its time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seem slow, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
4 #
Rom 1.17; Gal 3.11; Heb 10.38-39. Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail,#2.4 Cn: Heb is puffed up
but the righteous shall live by his faith.#2.4 Or faithfulness
5Moreover, wine is treacherous;
the arrogant man shall not abide.#2.5 The Hebrew of these two lines is obscure
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations,
and collects as his own all peoples.”
6Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, in scoffing derision of him, and say,
“Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own—
for how long?—
and loads himself with pledges!”
7Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be booty for them.
8Because you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
for the blood of men and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell therein.
9Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
to set his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10You have devised shame to your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11For the stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12Woe to him who builds a town with blood,
and founds a city on iniquity!
13Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that peoples labor only for fire,
and nations weary themselves for naught?
14 #
Is 11.9. For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
15Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink
of the cup of his wrath,#2.15 Cn: Heb joining to your wrath and makes them drunk,
to gaze on their shame!
16You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, yourself, and stagger!#2.16 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb be uncircumcised
The cup in the Lord's right hand
will come around to you,
and shame will come upon your glory!
17The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
the destruction of the beasts will terrify you,#2.17 Gk Syr: Heb them
for the blood of men and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell therein.
18What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, a teacher of lies?
For the workman trusts in his own creation
when he makes dumb idols!
19Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a dumb stone, Arise!
Can this give revelation?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and there is no breath at all in it.
20 #
Zeph 1.7; Zech 2.13. But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him.
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