Habakkuk 2
2
God's Reply to the Prophet's Complaint
1I will stand at my watchpost,
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what he#2.1 Syr: Heb I will answer concerning my complaint.
2Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.
3For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
4Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.#2.4 Or faithfulness
5Moreover, wealth#2.5 Other Heb Mss read wine is treacherous;
the arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough.
They gather all nations for themselves,
and collect all peoples as their own.
The Woes of the Wicked
6Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with mocking riddles, say about them,
“Alas for you who heap up what is not your own!”
How long will you load yourselves with goods taken in pledge?
7Will not your own creditors suddenly rise,
and those who make you tremble wake up?
Then you will be booty for them.
8Because you have plundered many nations,
all that survive of the peoples shall plunder you—
because of human bloodshed, and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.
9“Alas for you who get evil gain for your houses,
setting your nest on high
to be safe from the reach of harm!”
10You have devised shame for your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11The very stones will cry out from the wall,
and the plaster#2.11 Or beam will respond from the woodwork.
12“Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed,
and found a city on iniquity!”
13Is it not from the Lord of hosts
that peoples labor only to feed the flames,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14But the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
15“Alas for you who make your neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath#2.15 Or poison until they are drunk,
in order to gaze on their nakedness!”
16You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, you yourself, and stagger!#2.16 Q Ms Gk: MT be uncircumcised
The cup in the Lord's right hand
will come around to you,
and shame will come upon your glory!
17For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
the destruction of the animals will terrify you—#2.17 Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.
18What use is an idol
once its maker has shaped it—
a cast image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in what has been made,
though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!
19Alas for you who say to the wood, “Wake up!”
to silent stone, “Rouse yourself!”
Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated,
and there is no breath in it at all.
20But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him!
Currently Selected:
Habakkuk 2: NRSV-CI
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Habakkuk 2
2
1I will #Is. 21:8, 11stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.
The Just Live by Faith
2Then the Lord answered me and said:
#Is. 8:1“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
3For #Dan. 8:17, 19; 10:14the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will #Ezek. 12:24, 25not lie.
Though it tarries, #(Heb. 10:37, 38)wait for it;
Because it will #Ps. 27:13, 14; (James 5:7, 8; 2 Pet. 3:9)surely come,
It will not tarry.
4“Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the #(John 3:36); Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:38just shall live by his faith.
Woe to the Wicked
5“Indeed, because he transgresses by wine,
He is a proud man,
And he does not stay at home.
Because he #Prov. 27:20; 30:16; Is. 5:11–15enlarges his desire as hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.
6“Will not all these #Mic. 2:4take up a proverb against him,
And a taunting riddle against him, and say,
‘Woe to him who increases
What is not his—how long?
And to him who loads himself with many pledges’?
7Will not your creditors rise up suddenly?
Will they not awaken who oppress you?
And you will become their booty.
8#Is. 33:1; Jer. 27:7; Ezek. 39:10; Zech. 2:8Because you have plundered many nations,
All the remnant of the people shall plunder you,
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
9“Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house,
That he may #Jer. 49:16; Obad. 4set his nest on high,
That he may be delivered from the power of disaster!
10You give shameful counsel to your house,
Cutting off many peoples,
And sin against your soul.
11For the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the beam from the timbers will answer it.
12“Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed,
Who establishes a city by iniquity!
13Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts
That the peoples labor to feed the fire,
And nations weary themselves in vain?
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 neighbor,
Pressing him to your #Hos. 7:5bottle,
Even to make him drunk,
That you may look on his nakedness!
16You are filled with shame instead of glory.
You also—drink!
And be exposed as uncircumcised!
The cup of the Lord’s right hand will be turned against you,
And utter shame will be on your glory.
17For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid,
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
18“What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of lies,
That the maker of its mold should trust in it,
To make mute idols?
19Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at all.
20“But#Zeph. 1:7; Zech. 2:13 the Lord is in His holy temple.
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, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.