Ambacum 1

1 The burden which the prophet Ambacum saw.

The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

2 How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will not listen? [how long] shall I cry out to you being injured, and you will not save?

O YHWH, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

3 Therefore have you shown me troubles and griefs to look upon, misery and ungodliness? judgment is before me, and the judge receives a reward.

Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

4 Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgment proceeds not effectually, for the ungodly [man] prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgment will proceed.

Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

5 Behold, you despisers, and look, and wonder marvelously, and vanish: for I work a work in your days, which you will in no wise believe, though a man declare [it to you].

Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

6 Therefore, behold, I stir up the Chaldeans, the bitter and hasty nation, that walks upon the breadth of the earth, to inherit tabernacles not his own.

For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.

7 He is terrible and famous; his judgment shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of himself.

They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

8 And his horses shall bound [more swiftly] than leopards, and [they are] fiercer than the wolves of Arabia: and his horsemen shall ride forth, and shall rush from far; and they shall fly as an eagle hasting to eat.

Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

9 Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand.

They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

10 And he shall be at his ease with kings, and princes are his toys, and he shall mock at every strong-hold, and shall cast a mound, and take possession of it.

And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.

11 Then shall he change his spirit, and he shall pass through, and make an atonement, [saying], This strength [belongs] to my god.

Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his eloah.

12 [Are] not you from the beginning, O Lord God, my Holy One? and surely we shall not die. O Lord, you have established it for judgment, and he has formed me to chasten [with] his correction.

Art thou not from everlasting, O YHWH my Elohim, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O YHWH, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty Elohim, thou hast established them for correction.

13 [His] eye is too pure to behold evil [doings], and to look upon grievous afflictions: therefore do you look upon despisers? will you be silent when the ungodly swallows up the just?

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

14 And will you make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the reptiles which have no guide?

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

15 He has brought up destruction with a hook, and drawn one with a casting net, and caught another in his drags: therefore shall his heart rejoice and be glad.

They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

16 Therefore will he sacrifice to his drag, and burn incense to his casting-net, because by them he has made his portion fat, and his meats choice.

Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.

17 Therefore will he cast his net, and will not spare to kill the nations continually.

Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?