Ḥaḇaqquq (Habakkuk) 1
1
1The message which the prophet Ḥaḇaqquq saw.
2O יהוה, till when shall I cry, and You not hear? I cry to You, “Violence!” and You do not save.
3Why do You show me wickedness, and cause me to see perversity? For ruin and violence are before me. And there is strife, and contention arises.
4Therefore the Torah ceases, and right-ruling never goes forth. For the wrong hem in the righteous, so that right-ruling comes out twisted.
5“Look among the nations and see, and be amazed, be amazed! For a work is being wrought in your days which you would not believe if it were told.
6“See, I am raising up the Kasdim, a bitter and hasty nation, who is going through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
7“They are frightening and fearsome, their right-ruling and their exaltation proceed from themselves.
8“Their horses shall be swifter than leopards, and more fierce than evening wolves. And their horsemen shall charge ahead, and their horsemen come from afar. They fly as the eagle, rushing to eat.
9“All of them come for violence, the direction of their faces is like the east wind, and they gather captives like sand.
10“And they scoff at sovereigns, and princes are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they pile up earth and seize it.
11“Then shall he pass on as a wind, and transgress and be guilty, and ascribe this power to his mighty one.”
12Are You not from everlasting, O יהוה my Elohim, my Set-apart One? You do not die! O יהוה, You have appointed them for right-ruling, O Rock, You have established them for reproof.
13You, whose eyes are too clean to see evil, You are not able to look on wrong. Why do You look on those who act treacherously – keep silent when the wrong devours one more righteous than he?
14And would You make men like fish of the sea, like creeping creatures that have no ruler over them?
15The wicked foe has pulled all of them up with a hook, caught them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and exults.
16Therefore he slaughters to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, for by them is his portion fat and his food is rich.
17Is he therefore to keep on emptying his net, and killing nations without sparing?
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Ḥaḇaqquq (Habakkuk) 1: TS2009
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Habakkuk 1
1
1This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
But you do not listen!
“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,
but you do not come to save.
3Must I forever see these evil deeds?
Why must I watch all this misery?
Wherever I look,
I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people
who love to argue and fight.
4The law has become paralyzed,
and there is no justice in the courts.
The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
so that justice has become perverted.
The Lord’s Reply
5The Lord replied,
“Look around at the nations;
look and be amazed!#1:5 Greek version reads Look, you mockers; / look and be amazed and die. Compare Acts 13:41.
For I am doing something in your own day,
something you wouldn’t believe
even if someone told you about it.
6I am raising up the Babylonians,#1:6 Or Chaldeans.
a cruel and violent people.
They will march across the world
and conquer other lands.
7They are notorious for their cruelty
and do whatever they like.
8Their horses are swifter than cheetahs#1:8 Or leopards.
and fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their charioteers charge from far away.
Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.
9“On they come, all bent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind,
sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.
10They scoff at kings and princes
and scorn all their fortresses.
They simply pile ramps of earth
against their walls and capture them!
11They sweep past like the wind
and are gone.
But they are deeply guilty,
for their own strength is their god.”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—
surely you do not plan to wipe us out?
O Lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us,
to punish us for our many sins.
13But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.
Will you wink at their treachery?
Should you be silent while the wicked
swallow up people more righteous than they?
14Are we only fish to be caught and killed?
Are we only sea creatures that have no leader?
15Must we be strung up on their hooks
and caught in their nets while they rejoice and celebrate?
16Then they will worship their nets
and burn incense in front of them.
“These nets are the gods who have made us rich!”
they will claim.
17Will you let them get away with this forever?
Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?
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