Habakkuk 1
1
1The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
The prophet complains
2 LORD, how long will I call for help and you not listen?
I cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you don’t deliver us.
3Why do you show me injustice and look at anguish
so that devastation and violence are before me?
There is strife, and conflict abounds.
4The Instruction is ineffective.
Justice does not endure
because the wicked surround the righteous.
Justice becomes warped.
The LORD responds
5Look among the nations and watch!
Be astonished and stare
because something is happening in your days
that you wouldn’t believe even if told.
6I am about to rouse the Chaldeans,
that bitter and impetuous nation,
which travels throughout the earth to possess dwelling places it does not own.
7The Chaldean is dreadful and fearful.
He makes his own justice and dignity.#1.7 Or his justice and dignity come from him
8His horses are faster than leopards;
they are quicker than wolves of the evening.
His horsemen charge forward;
his horsemen come from far away.
They fly in to devour, swiftly, like an eagle.#1.8 Or vulture
9They come for violence,
the horde with all their faces set toward the desert.#1.9 Heb uncertain
He takes captives like sand.
10He makes fun of kings;
rulers are ridiculous to him.
He laughs at every fortress,
then he piles up dirt and takes it.
11He passes through like the wind and invades;
but he will be held guilty,
the one whose strength is his god.
The prophet questions the LORD
12 LORD, aren’t you ancient, my God, my holy one?
Don’t let us die.#1.12 Heb uncertain
LORD, you put the Chaldean here for judgment.
Rock, you established him as a rebuke.
13Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you are unable to look at disaster.
Why would you look at the treacherous
or keep silent when the wicked swallows one who is more righteous?
14You made humans like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things with no one to rule over them.
15The Chaldean brings all of them up with a fishhook.
He drags them away with a net;
he collects them in his fishing net,
then he rejoices and celebrates.
16Therefore, he sacrifices to his net;
he burns incense to his fishing nets,
because due to them his portion grows fat
and his food becomes luxurious.
17Should he continue to empty his net
and continue to slay nations without sparing them?
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Habakkuk 1
1
1This is the message Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk Complains
2Lord, how long must I ask for help
and you ignore me?
I cry out to you about violence,
but you do not save us!
3Why do you make me see wrong things
and make me look at trouble?
People are destroying things and hurting others in front of me;
they are arguing and fighting.
4So the teachings are weak,
and justice never comes.
Evil people gain while good people lose;
the judges no longer make fair decisions.
The Lord Answers
5“Look at the nations!
Watch them and be amazed and shocked.
I will do something in your lifetime
that you won’t believe even when you are told about it.
6I will use the Babylonians,
those cruel and wild people
who march across the earth
and take lands that don’t belong to them.
7They scare and frighten people.
They do what they want to do
and are good only to themselves.
8Their horses are faster than leopards
and quicker than wolves at sunset.
Their horse soldiers attack quickly;
they come from places far away.
They attack quickly, like an eagle swooping down for food.
9They all come to fight.
Nothing can stop them.
Their prisoners are as many as the grains of sand.
10They laugh at kings
and make fun of rulers.
They laugh at all the strong, walled cities
and build dirt piles to the top of the walls to capture them.
11Then they leave like the wind and move on.
They are guilty of worshiping their own strength.”
Habakkuk Complains Again
12Lord, you live forever,
my God, my holy God.
We will not die.
Lord, you have chosen the Babylonians to punish people;
our Rock, you picked them to punish.
13Your eyes are too good to look at evil;
you cannot stand to see those who do wrong.
So how can you put up with those evil people?
How can you be quiet when the wicked swallow up people who are better than they are?
14You treat people like fish in the sea,
like sea animals without a leader.
15The enemy brings them in with hooks.
He catches them in his net
and drags them in his fishnet.
So he rejoices and sings for joy.
16The enemy offers sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to worship it,
because it lets him live like the rich
and enjoy the best food.
17Will he keep on taking riches with his net?
Will he go on destroying people without showing mercy?
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.