Habakkuk 1

1 The burden that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

2 How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will not heed? Shall I shout to you while suffering violence, and you will not save?

O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou will not hear? I cry out to thee of violence, and thou will not save.

3 Why have you revealed to me iniquity and hardship, to see plunder and injustice opposite me? And there has been judgment, but the opposition is more powerful.

Why do thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? For destruction and violence are before me, and there is strife, and contention rises up.

4 Because of this, the law has been torn apart, and judgment does not persevere to its conclusion. For the impious prevail against the just. Because of this, a perverse judgment is issued.

Therefore the law is slacked, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked man surrounds the righteous man, therefore justice goes forth perverted.

5 Gaze among the nations, and see. Admire, and be astounded. For a work has been done in your days, which no one will believe when it is told.

Behold ye scoffers, and look, and wonder marvelously. For I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.

6 For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift people, marching across the width of the earth, to possess tabernacles not their own.

For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.

7 It is dreadful and terrible. From themselves, judgment and their burden will issue.

They are fearful and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

8 Their horses are more nimble than leopards and swifter than wolves in the evening; their horsemen will spread out. And then their horsemen will approach from far away; they will fly like the eagle, hurrying to devour.

Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. And their horsemen press proudly on. Yea, their horsemen come from far. They fly as an eagle that hastens to devour.

9 They will all approach towards the prey; their face is like a burning wind. And they will gather captives together like sand.

They come all of them for violence. The set of their faces is forwards, and they gather captives as the sand.

10 And concerning kings, he will triumph, and sovereign rulers will be his laughingstock, and he will laugh over every fortress, and he will transport a rampart and seize it.

Yea, he scoffs at kings, and rulers are a derision to him. He derides every stronghold, for he heaps up dust, and takes it.

11 Then his spirit will be altered, and he will cross over and fall. Such is his strength from his god.

Then he shall sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over, and be guilty; he whose might is his god.

12 Have you not existed from the beginning, Lord my God, my holy one, and so we shall not die? Lord, you have stationed him for judgment, and you have established that his strength will be swept away.

Are not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Jehovah, thou have ordained him for judgment, and thou, O Rock, have established him for correction.

13 Your eyes are pure, you do not behold evil, and you cannot look towards iniquity. Why do you look upon the agents of iniquity, and remain silent, while the impious is devouring one who is more just than himself?

Thou who are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and who cannot look on perverseness, why do thou look upon those who deal treacherously, and hold thy peace when the wicked man swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,

14 And you will make men like the fish of the sea and like the creeping things that have no ruler.

and makes men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

15 He lifted up everything with his hook. He drew them in with his dragnet, and gathered them into his netting. Over this, he will rejoice and exult.

He takes all of them up with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his drag. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.

16 For this reason, he will offer victims to his dragnet, and he will sacrifice to his netting. For through them, his portion has been made fat, and his meals elite.

Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his drag, because by them his portion is fat, and his food plentiful.

17 Because of this, therefore, he expands his dragnet and will not be lenient in continually putting to death the peoples.

Shall he therefore empty his net, and not spare to kill the nations continually?