Habakkuk 1

1 The burden that Habacuc the prophet saw.

The burden that Habakkuk the prophet has seen:

2 How long, O Lord, shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? shall I cry out to thee suffering violence, and thou wilt not save?

Until when, O YHWH, have I cried, And You do not hear? I cry to You, “Violence!” And You do not save.

3 Why hast thou shewn me iniquity and grievance, to see rapine and injustice before me? and there is a judgment, but opposition is more powerful.

Why do You show me iniquity, And cause [me] to behold perversity? And spoiling and violence [are] before me, And there is strife, and contention lifts [itself] up,

4 Therefore the law is torn in pieces, and judgment cometh not to the end: because the wicked prevaileth against the just, therefore wrong judgment goeth forth.

Therefore law ceases, And judgment does not go forth forever, For the wicked is surrounding the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment goes forth.

5 Behold ye among the nations, and see: wonder, and be astonished: for a work is done in your days, which no man will believe when it shall be told.

“Look on nations, and behold and marvel greatly. For a work He is working in your days, You do not believe though it is declared.

6 For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift nation, marching upon the breadth of the earth, to possess the dwelling places that are not their own.

For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, The bitter and hasty nation, That is going to the broad places of earth, To occupy dwelling places not his own.

7 They are dreadful, and terrible: from themselves shall their judgment, and their burden proceed.

He [is] terrible and fearful, His judgment and his excellence go forth from him.

8 Their horses are lighter than leopards, and swifter than evening wolves; and their horsemen shall be spread abroad: for their horsemen shall come from afar, they shall fly as an eagle that maketh haste to eat.

His horses have been swifter than leopards, And sharper than evening wolves, And his horsemen have increased, Even his horsemen from afar come in, They fly as an eagle, hastening to consume.

9 They shall all come to the prey, their face is like a burning wind: and they shall gather together captives as the sand.

All for violence—he comes in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And he gathers a captivity as the sand.

10 And their prince shall triumph over kings, and princes shall be his laughingstock: and he shall laugh at every strong hold, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take it.

And he scoffs at kings, And princes [are] a laughter to him, He laughs at every fortification, And he heaps up dust, and captures it.

11 Then shall his spirit be changed, and he shall pass, and fall: this is his strength of his god.

Then the spirit has passed on, Indeed, he transgresses, And [ascribes] this—his power—to his god.”

12 Wast thou not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one, and we shall not die? Lord, thou hast appointed him for judgment: and made him strong for correction.

Are You not of old, O YHWH, my God, my Holy One? We do not die, O YHWH, You have appointed him for judgment, And, O Rock, You have founded him for reproof.

13 Thy eyes are too pure to behold evil, and thou canst not look on iniquity. Why lookest thou upon them that do unjust things, and holdest thy peace when the wicked devoureth the man that is more just than himself?

Purer of eyes than to behold evil, You are not able to look on perverseness, Why do You behold the treacherous? You keep silent when the wicked Swallow the more righteous than he,

14 And thou wilt make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things that have no ruler.

And You make man as fishes of the sea, As a creeping thing [with] none ruling over him.

15 He lifted up all them with his hook, he drew them in his drag, and gathered them into his net: for this he will be glad and rejoice.

He has brought up each of them with a hook, He catches it in his net, and gathers it in his dragnet, Therefore he delights and rejoices.

16 Therefore will he offer victims to his drag, and he will sacrifice to his net: because through them his portion is made fat, and his meat dainty.

Therefore he sacrifices to his net, And makes incense to his dragnet, For by them [is] his portion fertile, and his food fat.

17 For this cause therefore he spreadeth his net, and will not spare continually to slay the nations.

Does he therefore empty his net, And continually not spare to slay nations?