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
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.”
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