Habakkuk 1
1
Habakkuk’s Complaint
1The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2O Yahweh, how long shall I cry for help
and you will not listen?
How long will I cry out to you, “Violence!”
and you will not save?
3Why do you cause me to see evil
while you look at trouble?
Destruction and violence happen before me;
contention and strife arise.
4Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice does not go forth perpetually.#Or “forever”
For the wicked surround the righteous;
therefore justice goes forth perverted.
God’s Answer to Habakkuk
5“Look among the nations and see;
be astonished and astounded.
For a work is about to be done in your days
that you will not believe if it is told.
6For look! I am raising up the Chaldeans,
the bitter and impetuous nation,
the one who walks through the spacious places of earth
to take possession of dwellings not belonging to it.#Or “him”
7They#Hebrew “He” are dreadful and awesome;
their#Hebrew “his” justice and their#Hebrew “his” dignity proceed from themselves.#Hebrew “him”
8Their#Hebrew “His” horses are more swift than leopards;
they are more menacing than wolves at dusk.
Their#Hebrew “His” horsemen gallop; their#Hebrew “his” horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle that is swift to devour.
9All of them#Hebrew “him” come for violence,
their faces pressing forward.
They gather captives like the sand.
10And they themselves scoff at kings
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh at every fortification,
and they heap up earth and take it.
11Then they sweep like the wind and pass on;
they become guilty, whose might is their#Hebrew “his” god!”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12Are you not from of old,
O Yahweh my God, my Holy One?
You#Hebrew “we shall not die,” considered a deliberate scribal change of the text to avoid offensive language toward Yahweh shall not die.
O Yahweh, you have marked them#Hebrew “him” for judgment;
O Rock, you have established them#Hebrew “him” for reproof.
13Your eyes are too pure to see evil,
and you are not able to look at wrongdoing.#Or “trouble”
Why do you look at the treacherous?
Why are you silent when the wicked swallows up
someone more righteous than him?
14You make humankind like fish of the sea,
like crawling creatures that have no ruler among them.
15He brings up all of them with a fishhook;
he drags them up with a fishnet;
he gathers them in his dragnet.
Therefore, he rejoices and exults.
16Therefore he sacrifices to his fishnet
and makes offerings to his dragnet,
for by them he makes a good living#Literally “his portion is fat”
and his food is rich.
17Will he therefore empty his fishnet
and continually kill nations without showing mercy?
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Habakkuk 1
1
Learning How to Trust God
1This is the message that was given to Habakkuk the prophet.
Habakkuk Complains
2Lord, I continue to ask for help.
How long will you ignore me?
I cry out to you about violence,
but you do not save us!
3Why do you let me see wrong things?
Why do you put up with evil?
People are destroying things and hurting others while I am looking.
They are arguing and fighting.
4People are not forced to obey the teachings.
No one receives a fair trial.
Evil people gain while good people lose.
The judges no longer make fair decisions.
The Lord Answers
5“You and your people, look at the nations!
Watch them and be amazed.
I will do something in your lifetime that will amaze you.
You won’t believe it even when you are told about it.
6I will use the Babylonian people to punish the evil people.
The Babylonians are cruel and powerful fighters.
They march across the earth.
They take lands that don’t belong to them.
7The Babylonians frighten other people.
They do what they want to do.
They are good only to themselves.
8Their horses are faster than leopards
and more cruel than wolves at sunset.
Their horse soldiers attack quickly.
They come from places that are far away.
They attack quickly, like an eagle swooping down for food.
9They all come to fight.
Their armies march quickly like a whirlwind in the desert.
Their prisoners are as many as the grains of sand.
10The Babylonian soldiers laugh at kings.
They make fun of rulers.
They laugh at all the strong, walled cities.
They build dirt roads up to the top of the walls.
They capture the cities.
11Then they leave like the wind and move on.
They are guilty of worshiping their own strength.”
Habakkuk Complains Again
12Lord, you are the Lord who lives forever.
You are my God, my holy God.
You will not let those who trust you die.
Lord, you have chosen the Babylonians to punish people.
Our Rock, you created them to punish the people.
13Your eyes are too good to look at evil.
You cannot stand to see people do wrong.
So how can you put up with those evil people?
How can you be quiet when wicked people defeat people who are better than they are?
14You treat people like fish in the sea.
You treat them like sea animals without a leader.
15The enemy catches all of them with hooks.
He catches them in his net.
He drags them in.
He is glad that he has caught them.
16The enemy offers sacrifices to his net.
He burns incense to worship it.
This is because his net lets him live like a rich man.
His net lets him 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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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.