Habakkuk 1
1
1The oracle # Is 13:1; 30:6; Jr 18:18; Ezk 12:10; Hab 1:1; Zch 9:1; 12:1; Mal 1:1 that Habakkuk the prophet saw. # Nm 24:4; Jb 19:26; Is 13:1
Habakkuk’s First Prayer
2How long, # Ps 4:2; 6:3; 13:1 Lord, must I call for help # Jb 19:7; Ps 5:2; Lm 3:8
and You do not listen
or cry out to You about violence # ** # Jr 6:7; Ezk 7:11,23; 8:17; 12:19; 45:9; Mc 6:12; Hab 1:9; 2:8,17
and You do not save?
3Why do You force me to look at injustice? # Jb 4:8; Ps 5:5; Is 5:7
Why do You tolerate # Lit observe wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
4This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict # Jdg 20:43; Ps 22:12 the righteous;
therefore, justice # Ex 23:6 comes out perverted.
God’s First Answer
5Look at the nations # DSS, LXX, Syr read Look, you treacherous people # Ps 2:1 and observe # Gn 15:5 —
be utterly astounded! # Gn 43:33; Ps 48:5; Ec 5:8
For something is taking place in your days
that you will not believe # Gn 15:6
when you hear about it. # Ac 13:41
6Look! I am raising up # Ru 4:5 the Chaldeans, # = the Babylonians
that bitter, # Jdg 18:25 impetuous nation
that marches across the earth’s open spaces
to seize territories not its own.
7They are fierce # Sg 6:4,10 and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.
8Their horses are swifter # 2Sm 1:23 than leopards # Is 11:6; Jr 5:6; 13:23; Hs 13:7
and more fierce # Or and quicker than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead;
their horsemen come from distant lands.
They fly like an eagle, swooping to devour. # Dt 28:49
9All of them come to do violence;
their faces # Gn 48:11 are set in determination. # Hb obscure
They gather # Dt 11:14 prisoners like sand. # Jos 11:4
10They mock # 2Kg 2:23 kings,
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh # 2Ch 30:10 at every fortress
and build siege ramps to capture # Nm 21:32 it.
11Then they sweep # Is 8:8 by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty; # Or wind, and transgress and incur guilt their strength is their god.
Habakkuk’s Second Prayer
12Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God? # 1Ch 29:10; Ps 90:2; 93:2; 103:17; Mc 5:2
My Holy One, # Is 1:4 You # Ancient Jewish tradition reads we will not die.
Lord, You appointed them to execute judgment;
my Rock, # Dt 32:4; Ps 18:2 You destined them to punish us.
13Your eyes # 2Ch 6:20; 16:9 are too pure # Ex 25:11; Ps 12:6; 19:9; 51:10; Pr 22:11; Ezk 36:25 to look on evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous? # Jdg 9:23
Why are You silent
while one # = Babylon who is wicked swallows up
one # = Judah who is more righteous than himself?
14You have made mankind
like the fish of the sea, # Ec 9:12
like marine creatures that have no ruler.
15The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet, # 2Kg 19:28; 2Ch 33:11; Is 37:29; Jr 16:16; Ezk 19:4,9; 29:4; 38:4; Am 4:2
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.
16That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful. # Dt 8:17; Is 10:13; 37:24-25
17Will they therefore empty their net # DSS read sword
and continually slaughter nations without mercy?
Currently Selected:
Habakkuk 1: HCSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Habakkuk 1
1
1The revelation which Habakkuk the prophet saw. 2Yahweh,#1:2 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “Lord” (all caps) in other translations. how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save? 3Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up. 4Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.
5“Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days which you will not believe though it is told you. 6For, behold,#1:6 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection. I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation who march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. 7They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. 8Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour. 9All of them come for violence. Their hordes face forward. They gather prisoners like sand. 10Yes, they scoff at kings, and princes are a derision to them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they build up an earthen ramp and take it. 11Then they sweep by like the wind and go on. They are indeed guilty, whose strength is their god.”
12Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God,#1:12 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim). my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed them for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish. 13You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he, 14and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things that have no ruler over them? 15He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad. 16Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious and his food is good. 17Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
PUBLIC DOMAIN (not copyrighted)