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!
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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.
Habacuc (Habakkuk) 2
2
1I will stand upon my watch, and fix my foot upon the tower: and I will watch, to see what will be said to me, and what I may answer to him that reproveth me.
2And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables: that he that readeth it may run over it.
3For as yet the vision is far off, and it shall appear at the end, and shall not lie: if it make any delay, wait for it: for it shall surely come, and it shall not be slack.
4Behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be right in himself: but the just shall live in his faith.
5And as wine deceiveth him that drinketh it: so shall the proud man be, and he shall not be honoured: who hath enlarged his desire like hell: and is himself like death, and he is never satisfied: but will gather together unto him all nations, and heap together unto him all people.
6Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a dark speech concerning him: and it shall be said: Woe to him that heapeth together that which is not his own? how long also doth he load himself with thick clay?
7Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee: and they be stirred up that shall tear thee, and thou shalt be a spoil to them?
8Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all that shall be left of the people shall spoil thee: because of men's blood, and for the iniquity of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
9Woe to him that gathereth together an evil covetousness to his house, that his nest may be on high, and thinketh he may be delivered out of the hand of evil.
10Thou hast devised confusion to thy house, thou hast cut off many people, and thy soul hath sinned.
11For the stone shall cry out of the wall: and the timber that is between the joints of the building, shall answer.
12Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and prepareth a city by iniquity.
13Are not these things from the Lord of hosts? for the people shall labour in a great fire: and the nations in vain, and they shall faint.
14For the earth shall be filled, that men may know the glory of the Lord, as waters covering the sea.
15Woe to him that giveth drink to his friend, and presenteth his gall, and maketh him drunk, that he may behold his nakedness.
16Thou art filled with shame instead of glory: drink thou also, and fall fast asleep: the cup of the right hand of the Lord shall compass thee, and shameful vomiting shall be on thy glory.
17For the iniquity of Libanus shall cover thee, and the ravaging of beasts shall terrify them because of the blood of men, and the iniquity of the land, and of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
18What doth the graven thing avail, because the maker thereof hath graven it, a molten, and a false image? because the forger thereof hath trusted in a thing of his own forging, to make dumb idols.
19Woe to him that saith to wood: Awake: to the dumb stone: Arise: can it teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold, and silver, and there is no spirit in the bowels thereof.
20But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.