HABAKKUK
Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah
1
The 1Aoracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
AHow long, O Lord, will I call for help,
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do Bnot save.
Why do You make me Asee iniquity,
And cause me to look on wickedness?
Yes, Bdestruction and violence are before me;
CStrife exists and contention arises.
Therefore the Alaw is 1ignored
And justice 2is never upheld.
For the wicked Bsurround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out Cperverted.
ALook among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! BWonder!
Because I am doing Csomething in your days
You would not believe if 1you were told.
“For behold, I am Araising up the Chaldeans,
That 1fierce and impetuous people
Who march 2throughout the earth
To 3Bseize dwelling places which are not theirs.
“They are dreaded and Afeared;
Their Bjustice and 1authority 2originate with themselves.
“Their Ahorses are swifter than leopards
And 1keener than Bwolves in the evening.
Their 2horsemen come galloping,
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an Ceagle swooping down to devour.
All of them come for violence.
1Their horde of Afaces moves forward.
They collect captives like sand.
10 “They Amock at kings
And rulers are a laughing matter to them.
They Blaugh at every fortress
And Cheap up rubble to capture it.
11 Then they will sweep through like the Awind and pass on.
But they will be held Bguilty,
They whose Cstrength is their god.”
12 Are You not from Aeverlasting,
O Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, O Lord, have Bappointed them to judge;
And You, O CRock, have established them to correct.
13  Your eyes are too Apure to 1approve evil,
And You can not look on wickedness with favor.
Why do You Blook with favor
On those who deal Ctreacherously?
Why are You Dsilent when the wicked Eswallow up
Those more righteous than they?
14  Why have You made men like the fish of the sea,
Like creeping things without a ruler over them?
15  The Chaldeans Abring all of them up with a hook,
BDrag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16  Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And 1burn incense to their fishing net;
Because through Athese things their 2catch is 3large,
And their food is 4plentiful.
17 Will they therefore empty their Anet
And continually Bslay nations without sparing?
1 1:1 Or burden A 1:1 Is 13:1; Nah 1:1 A 1:2 Ps 13:1, 2; 22:1, 2 B 1:2 Jer 14:9 A 1:3 Ps 55:9-11; Jer 20:18 B 1:3 Jer 20:8 C 1:3 Jer 15:10 A 1:4 Ps 58:1, 2; 119:126; Is 59:12-14 1 1:4 Or ineffective; lit numbed 2 1:4 Lit never goes forth B 1:4 Ps 22:12; Is 1:21-23 C 1:4 Is 5:20; Ezek 9:9 A 1:5 Acts 13:41 B 1:5 Is 29:9 C 1:5 Is 29:14; Ezek 12:22-28 1 1:5 Lit it A 1:6 2 Kin 24:2; Jer 4:11-13 1 1:6 Lit bitter 2 1:6 Lit the breadth of 3 1:6 Lit take possession of B 1:6 Jer 8:10 A 1:7 Is 18:2, 7 B 1:7 Jer 39:5-9 1 1:7 Lit eminence 2 1:7 Lit proceeds from A 1:8 Jer 4:13 1 1:8 Or more eager to attack B 1:8 Zeph 3:3 2 1:8 Or steeds paw the ground C 1:8 Ezek 17:3; Hos 8:1 1 1:9 Or The eagerness of their faces A 1:9 2 Kin 12:17; Dan 11:17 A 1:10 2 Chr 36:6, 10; Is 37:13 B 1:10 Is 10:9; 14:16 C 1:10 Jer 32:24; Ezek 26:8 A 1:11 Jer 4:11, 12 B 1:11 Jer 2:3 C 1:11 Dan 4:30; Hab 1:16 A 1:12 Deut 33:27; Ps 90:2; Mal 3:6 B 1:12 Is 10:5, 6; Mal 3:5 C 1:12 Deut 32:4 A 1:13 Ps 11:4-6; 34:15, 16 1 1:13 Lit look at B 1:13 Jer 12:1, 2 C 1:13 Is 24:16 D 1:13 Ps 50:21 E 1:13 Ps 35:25 A 1:15 Jer 16:16; Amos 4:2 B 1:15 Ps 10:9 1 1:16 Or sacrifice A 1:16 Jer 44:17 2 1:16 Lit portion 3 1:16 Lit fat; or plentiful 4 1:16 Lit the fat portion A 1:17 Is 19:8 B 1:17 Is 14:5, 6