Habacuc Propheta 1
1 Onus, quod vidit Habacuc propheta.
The message that Habakkuk the prophet received,
2 Usquequo Domine clamabo, et non exaudies? vociferabor ad te vim patiens, et non salvabis?
“Yahweh, how long will I cry for help, and you will not hear? I cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you will not save.
3 Quare ostendisti mihi iniquitatem, et laborem, videre prædam, et iniustitiam contra me? et factum est iudicium, et contradictio potentior.
Why do you make me see iniquity and look upon wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention rises up.
4 Propter hoc lacerata est lex, et non pervenit usque ad finem iudicium: quia impius prævalet adversus iustum, propterea egreditur iudicium perversum.
Therefore the law is weakened, and justice does not last for any time. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore false justice goes out.”
5 Aspicite in gentibus, et videte: admiramini, et obstupescite: quia opus factum est in diebus vestris, quod nemo credet cum narrabitur.
“Look at the nations and examine them; be amazed and astonished! For I am surely about to do something in your days that you will not believe when it is reported to you.
6 Quia ecce ego suscitabo Chaldæos, gentem amaram et velocem, ambulantem super latitudinem terræ, ut possideat tabernacula non sua.
For look! I am about to raise up the Chaldeans—that fierce and impetuous nation— they are marching throughout the breadth of the land to seize homes that were not their own.
7 Horribilis, et terribilis est: ex semetipsa iudicium, et onus eius egredietur.
They are terrifying and fearsome; their judgment and splendor proceed from themselves.
8 Leviores pardis equi eius, et velociores lupis vespertinis: et diffundentur equites eius: equites namque eius de longe venient, volabunt quasi aquila festinans ad comedendum.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, quicker than the evening wolves. So their horses stamp, and their horsemen come from a great distance—they fly like an eagle hurrying to eat.
9 Omnes ad prædam venient, facies eorum ventus urens: et congregabit quasi arenam, captivitatem.
They all come for violence; their multitudes go like the desert wind, and they gather captives like sand.
10 Et ipse de regibus triumphabit, et tyranni ridiculi eius erunt: ipse super omnem munitionem ridebit, et comportabit aggerem, et capiet eam.
So they mock kings, and rulers are only a mockery for them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they heap up earth and take them.
11 Tunc mutabitur spiritus, et pertransibit; et corruet: hæc est fortitudo eius dei sui.
Then the wind will rush on; it will move past—guilty men, those whose might is their god.”
12 Numquid non tu a principio Domine Deus meus, sancte meus, et non moriemur? Domine in iudicium posuisti eum: et fortem ut corriperes, fundasti eum.
“Are you not from ancient times, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh has ordained them for judgment, and you, Rock, have established them for correction.
13 Mundi sunt oculi tui, ne videas malum, et respicere ad iniquitatem non poteris. Quare respicis super iniqua agentes, et taces devorante impio iustiorem se?
Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil, and you are not able to look on wrongdoing with favor; why then have you looked favorably on those who betray? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they are?
14 Et facies homines quasi pisces maris, et quasi reptile non habens principem.
You make men like fish in the sea, like creeping things without a ruler over them.
15 Totum in hamo sublevavit, traxit illud in sagena sua, et congregavit in rete suum. Super hoc lætabitur et exultabit.
He brings all of them up with a fishhook; he drags men away in his fishnet; he gathers them together in his dragnet; so he rejoices and he is glad.
16 Propterea immolabit sagenæ suæ, et sacrificabit reti suo: quia in ipsis incrassata est pars eius, et cibus eius electus.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury, and his food is the richest kind.
17 Propter hoc ergo expandit sagenam suam, et semper interficere gentes non parcet.
Will he therefore keep emptying his net, and will he continually slaughter the nations without mercy?”
