Habakkuk 1

1 [the] oracle which to see Habakkuk [the] prophet

This is the message that Habakkuk saw in vision.

2 till where? LORD to cry and not to hear: hear to cry out to(wards) you violence and not to save

Lord, how long do I have to cry out for help and you don't listen? I cry out, “Violence!” but you don't save us from it.

3 to/for what? to see: see me evil: wickedness and trouble to look and violence and violence to/for before me and to be strife and strife to lift: raise

Why do you force me to see this wickedness and suffering? Why do you just observe such destruction and violence? Arguments and fighting happen right in front of me!

4 upon so be numb instruction and not to come out: come to/for perpetuity justice for wicked to surround [obj] [the] righteous upon so to come out: come justice to twist

As a result the law is paralyzed, and justice never wins. The wicked crowd out those who do right so that the course of justice is perverted.

5 to see: see in/on/with nation and to look and to astounded to astounded for work to work in/on/with day your not be faithful for to recount

Look around at the nations, watch and be surprised and amazed. Something is going to happen in your time that you wouldn't believe even if you were told.

6 for look! I to arise: raise [obj] [the] Chaldea [the] nation [the] bitter and [the] to hasten [the] to go: walk to/for broad land: country/planet to/for to possess: take tabernacle not to/for him

Watch! I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and brutal people who will march across the world to seize other lands.

7 terrible and to fear he/she/it from him justice his and elevation his to come out: come

They are fearsome and terrifying, and so proud of themselves that they set their own rules.

8 and to lighten from leopard horse his and be sharp from wolf evening and to leap horseman his and horseman his from distant to come (in): come to fly like/as eagle to hasten to/for to eat

Their horses are faster than leopards and fiercer than hungry wolves. Their cavalry charges, racing in from far away. Like eagles, they swoop down to eat their prey.

9 all his to/for violence to come (in): come horde face their east [to] and to gather like/as sand captivity

Here they come, all intent on violence. Their armies advance in frontal assault as rapidly as the desert wind, capturing so many prisoners they are like sand.

10 and he/she/it in/on/with king to mock and to rule laughing to/for him he/she/it to/for all fortification to laugh and to heap dust and to capture her

They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh in scorn at fortresses—they pile up earth ramps and capture them.

11 then to pass spirit: breath and to pass and be guilty this strength his to/for god his

Then they sweep on by like the wind and are gone. They are guilty because their own strength is their god.

12 not you(m. s.) from front: old LORD God my holy my not to die LORD to/for justice: judgement to set: appoint him and rock to/for to rebuke to found him

Haven't you existed from eternity past? You are Lord my God, my Holy One, you do not die. Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment; God our Rock, you sent them to punish us.

13 pureness eye from to see: see bad: evil and to look to(wards) trouble not be able to/for what? to look to act treacherously be quiet in/on/with to swallow up wicked righteous from him

Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil; you cannot stand the sight of wrong. So why do you put up with untrustworthy people? Why are you silent when the wicked destroy those who do less evil than they do?

14 and to make man like/as fish [the] sea like/as creeping not to rule in/on/with him

You make people become like fish in the sea, or like crawling insects, that have no ruler.

15 all his in/on/with hook to ascend: establish to drag/chew/saw him in/on/with net his and to gather him in/on/with net his upon so to rejoice and to rejoice

They drag everyone up with hooks, they pull them out with nets, catching them in dragnets. Then they happily celebrate.

16 upon so to sacrifice to/for net his and to offer: offer to/for net his for in/on/with them rich portion his and food his fat

They worship their nets as if they were gods, making sacrifices and burning incense to them, because by their nets they live in luxury, eating rich food.

17 upon so to empty net his and continually to/for to kill nation not to spare

Will they keep on unsheathing their swords forever, killing nations without mercy?