Habakkuk 2
2
The Lord Answers Habakkuk Again
1While standing guard
on the watchtower,
I waited for the Lord's answer,
before explaining the reason
for my complaint.#2.1 I … complaint: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
2Then the Lord told me:
“I will give you my message
in the form of a vision.
Write it clearly enough
to be read at a glance.
3 #
He 10.37. At the time I have decided,
my words will come true.
You can trust what I say
about the future.
It may take a long time,
but keep on waiting—
it will happen!
4 #
Ro 1.17; Ga 3.11; He 10.38. “I, the Lord, refuse to accept
anyone who is proud.
Only those who live by faith
are acceptable to me.”#2.4 Only … me: Or “But those who are acceptable to me will live because of their faithfulness.”
Trouble for Evil People
5Wine#2.5 Wine: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls “Wealth.” is treacherous,
and arrogant people
are never satisfied.
They are no less greedy
than death itself—
they open their mouths as wide
as the world of the dead
and swallow everyone.
6But they will be mocked
with these words:
You're doomed!
You stored up stolen goods
and cheated others
of what belonged to them.
7But without warning,
those you owe
will demand payment.
Then you will become
a frightened victim.
8You robbed cities and nations
everywhere on earth
and murdered their people.
Now those who survived
will be as cruel to you.
9You're doomed!
You made your family rich
at the expense of others.
You even said to yourself,
“I'm above the law.”
10But you will bring shame
on your family
and ruin to yourself
for what you did to others.
11The very stones and wood
in your home
will testify against you.
12You're doomed! You built a city
on crime and violence.
13 #
Si 14.19. But the Lord All-Powerful
sends up in flames
what nations and people
work so hard to gain.
14 #
Is 11.9. Just as water fills the sea,
the land will be filled
with people who know
and honor the Lord.
15You're doomed!
You get your friends drunk,
just to see them naked.
16Now you will be disgraced
instead of praised.
The Lord will make you drunk,
and when others see you naked,
you will lose their respect.
17You destroyed trees and animals
on Mount Lebanon;
you were ruthless to towns
and people everywhere.
Now you will be terrorized.
Idolatry Is Foolish
18What is an idol worth?
It's merely a false god.
Why trust a speechless image
made from wood or metal
by human hands?
19What can you learn from idols
covered with silver or gold?
They can't even breathe.
Pity anyone who says to an idol
of wood or stone,
“Get up and do something!”
20Let all the world be silent—
the Lord is present
in his holy temple.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Habakkuk 2
2
1I will take my post;
I will position myself on the fortress.
I will keep watch to see what the Lord says to me
and how he#2.1 Syr he; MT I will respond to my complaint.
The LORD responds
2Then the LORD answered me and said,
Write a vision, and make it plain upon a tablet
so that a runner can read it.#2.2 Or a reader can run with it
3There is still a vision for the appointed time;
it testifies to the end;
it does not deceive.#2.3 Heb uncertain; antecedants to pronouns in 2:3-6 are uncertain.
If it delays, wait for it;
for it is surely coming; it will not be late.
4Some people’s desires are truly audacious;#2.4 Heb uncertain
they don’t do the right thing.
But the righteous person will live honestly.
5Moreover, wine betrays an arrogant man.
He doesn’t rest.
He opens his jaws#2.5 Or throat like the grave;#2.5 Heb Sheol
like death, he is never satisfied.
He gathers all nations to himself
and collects all peoples for himself.
6Won’t everyone tell parables about him
or mocking poems concerning him?
They will say:
Doom to the one who multiplies what doesn’t belong to him
and who increases his own burden.
How long?
7Won’t they suddenly rise up to bite you?
Those who frighten you will awaken;
you will become plunder for them.
8Since you yourself have plundered many nations,
all the rest of the peoples will plunder you
because of the human bloodshed
and the violence done to the earth,
to every village, and to all its inhabitants.
9Doom to the one making evil gain for his own house,
for putting his own nest up high,
for delivering himself from the grasp of calamity.
10You plan shame for your own house,
cutting off many peoples
and sinning against your own life.
11A stone will cry out from a village wall,
and a tree branch will respond.
12Pity the one building a city with bloodshed
and founding a village with injustice.
13Look, isn’t this from the LORD of heavenly forces?
Peoples grow weary from making just enough fire;
nations become tired for nothing.#2.13 Heb uncertain
14But the land will be full of the knowledge of the LORD’s glory,
just as water covers the sea.
15Doom to the one who makes his companions drunk,
pouring out your wrath in order to see them naked.#2.15 Heb uncertain
16You have drunk your fill of dishonor rather than glory.
So drink and stagger.#2.16 DSS, LXX; MT uncircumcised
The cup of the LORD’s strong hand will come around to you;
disgrace will engulf you.
17Because of the violence done to Lebanon, he will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you,
as will human bloodshed and violence throughout the land, the villages,
and all their inhabitants.#2.17 Heb uncertain
18Of what value is an idol, when its potter carves it,
or a cast image that has been shaped?
It is a teacher of lies,
for the potter trusts the pottery, though it is incapable of speaking.
19Doom to the one saying to the tree, “Wake up!”
or “Get up” to the silent stone.
Does it teach?
Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
but there is no breath within it.
20But the LORD is in his holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before him.
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