Habakkuk 2
2
Habakkuk Waits for God’s Response
1I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.#1Ch 9:27; 2Ch 8:14; Is 21:6–9
I will watch to see what he will say to me#Ps 85:8
and what I should#2:1 Syr reads what he will reply about my complaint.
God’s Second Answer
2The Lord answered me:
Write down this vision;#1Sm 3:1; Ps 89:19; Pr 29:18; Is 1:1
clearly inscribe it on tablets
so one may easily read it.#2:2 Lit one who reads in it may run
3For the vision is yet for the appointed time;#Gn 18:14; 21:2; 2Kg 4:16–17; Dn 8:19; 11:27,29,35
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.#Dn 10:1,14; 11:35; Heb 10:36–37; 2Pt 3:9; Rv 22:10
4Look, his ego is inflated;#2:4 Hb obscure
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.#2:4 Or faithfulness#Rm 1:17; Gl 3:11
5Moreover, wine#2:5 DSS read wealth betrays;
an arrogant man is never at rest.#2:5 Or man does not endure; Hb obscure
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
and like Death he is never satisfied.#Pr 27:20; 30:15–16; Is 5:14
He gathers all the nations to himself;#Is 13:4; 43:9; 66:18; Jr 3:17; Hs 10:10; Jl 3:2,11; Zph 3:8; Zch 12:3; 14:2; Mt 25:32
he collects all the peoples for himself.
The Five Woe Oracles
6Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,#Is 14:4; Mc 2:4
with mockery and riddles about him?
They will say,
“Woe to him who amasses what is not his —
how much longer?#1Kg 18:21; Ps 82:2; Pr 1:22; Jr 4:14,21; 23:26; 31:22; Hs 8:5 —
and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.”#Dt 24:10–13
7Won’t your creditors suddenly arise,
and those who disturb you wake up?
Then you will become spoil for them.#2Kg 21:14; Is 42:22,24; Jr 49:32
8Since you have plundered many nations,#Is 10:13; Ezk 36:4
all the peoples who remain will plunder you#Zph 3:8 —
because of human bloodshed
and violence#Jr 6:7; Ezk 7:11,23; 8:17; 12:19; 45:9; Mc 6:12; Hab 1:2–3,9; 2:17 against lands, cities,
and all who live in them.#Is 33:1; Jr 25:12,14; Hab 2:17; Rv 13:10
9Woe to him who dishonestly makes
wealth for his house#2:9 Or dynasty#Pr 1:9; 15:27; Jr 6:13; 8:10; Ezk 22:27
to place his nest on high,
to escape the grasp of disaster!#Pr 11:28; Jr 22:13; 49:16; Ob 4; Rv 18:7
10You have planned shame for your house
by wiping out many peoples
and sinning against your own self.
11For the stones will cry out#Lk 19:40 from the wall,
and the rafters will answer them
from the woodwork.
12Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and founds a town with injustice!#Ezk 22:2–3; Mc 3:10
13Is it not from the Lord of Armies
that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire
and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?#Jr 51:58
14For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,
as the water covers the sea.#Nm 14:21; Ps 33:5; 72:19; 119:64; Is 6:3; 11:9; Jr 23:24
15Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath#2:15 Or venom
and even making them drunk,
in order to look at their nakedness!
16You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.
You also — drink,
and expose your uncircumcision!#2:16 DSS, LXX, Aq, Syr, Vg read and stagger
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and utter disgrace will cover your glory.#Rv 14:8–10
17For your violence against Lebanon
will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you#2:17 DSS, LXX, Aq, Syr, Tg, Vg; MT reads them
because of your human bloodshed and violence
against lands, cities, and all who live in them.
18What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes worthless idols that cannot speak.
19Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!
or to mute stone: Come alive!
Can it teach?
Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,
yet there is no breath#Ex 32:4; Dt 27:15; Jdg 17:4; Is 30:22; 40:18–20; 44:9–20; Jr 10:14 in it at all.
20But the Lord is in his holy temple;#Ps 11:4
let the whole earth
be silent in his presence.#Zph 1:7; Zch 2:13
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Ḥaḇaqquq (Habakkuk) 2
2
1I stand at my watch, and station myself on the watch-tower, and wait to see what He says to me, and what to answer when I am reproved.
2And יהוה answered me and said, “Write the vision and inscribe it on tablets, so that he who reads it runs.
3“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, and it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it lingers, wait for it, for it shall certainly come, it shall not delay.
4“See, he whose being is not upright in him is puffed up. But the righteous one lives by his steadfastness.
5“And also, because wine betrays him, a man is proud, and he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his appetite as She’ol, and he is like death, and is not satisfied, and gathers to himself all nations and heaps up for himself all peoples.
6“Shall not all these lift up a proverb against him, and a mocking riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases what is not his! Till when is he to load on himself many pledges’?
7“Do not your creditors rise up suddenly? And those who make you tremble wake up and you be plunder for them?
8“Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the people shall plunder you, because of men’s blood, and doing violence to the land, to the city, and to all who dwell in it.
9“Woe to him who is getting evil gain for his house, in order to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of evil!
10“You have counselled shame for your house, to cut off many peoples, and your being is sinning.
11“For a stone from the wall cries out, and a beam from the timbers answers it.
12“Woe to him who builds a town by blood, and establishes a city by unrighteousness!
13“See, it is not from יהוה of hosts that peoples labour only for fire, and nations weary themselves for naught,
14for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the esteem of יהוה, as the waters cover the sea!#See Isa. 11:9
15“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbour, pouring out your wineskin, and also making him drunk – in order to look on their nakedness!
16“You shall be filled with shame instead of esteem. Drink, you too, and be exposed as uncircumcised! The cup of the right hand of יהוה shall come around to you, and great shame upon your esteem.
17“For the violence done to Leḇanon is to overwhelm you – and the ravaging of beasts by which you made them afraid – because of men’s blood and the violence to the land, to the city and of all who dwell in it.
18“Of what use shall a carved image be? For its maker has carved it: a moulded image and teacher of falsehood! For the maker trusts what he has made: to make dumb idols!
19“Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Is it a teacher? See, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no spirit at all inside it.
20“But יהוה is in His set-apart Hĕḵal. Let all the earth be silent before Him.”
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