Habakkuk 1

Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah

1 The ^apronouncement which Habakkuk the prophet saw:

2 ^bHow long, Lord, have I called for help,
And You do not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do ^cnot save.
3 Why do You make me ^dsee disaster,
And make me look at destitution?
Yes, ^edevastation and violence are before me;
^fStrife exists and contention arises.
4 Therefore the ^gLaw ▼

▼Or is ineffective; lit turns cold

is ignored,
And justice ▼

▼Lit never goes forth

is never upheld.
For the wicked ^jsurround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out ^kconfused.

5 “ ^lLook among the nations! Watch!
Be horrified! ^mBe frightened speechless!
For I am accomplishing ⁿa work in your days--
You would not believe it even if ▼

▼Lit it

you were told!
6 “For behold, I am ^praising up the Chaldeans,
That ▼

▼Lit bitter

grim and impetuous people
Who march ▼

▼Lit the breadth of

throughout the earth,
To ^stake possession of dwelling places that are not theirs.
7 “They are terrifying and ^tfeared;
Their ^ujustice and ▼

▼Lit sovereignty

authority ▼

▼Lit proceed from

originate with themselves.
8 “Their ^xhorses are faster than leopards,
And quicker than ^ywolves in the evening.
Their ▼

▼Or horses

horsemen charge along,
Their ▼

▼Or horses

horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an ^abeagle ▼

▼Lit hurrying to

swooping down to devour.
9 “All of them come for violence.
▼

▼Lit The totality of

Their horde of ^aefaces moves forward.
They gather captives like sand.
10 “They ^afmake fun of kings,
And dignitaries are an object of laughter to them.
They ^aglaugh at every fortress,
Then ^ahheap up dirt and ▼

▼Or overthrow

capture it.
11 “Then they fly along like the ^ajwind and pass on.
But they will be held ^akguilty,
They whose ^alstrength is their god.”

12 Are You not from ^amtime everlasting,
Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, Lord, have ^anappointed them to deliver judgment;
And You, O ^aoRock, have destined them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too ^appure to look at evil,
And You cannot look at harm favorably.
Why do You ^aqlook favorably
At those who deal ^artreacherously?
Why are You ^assilent when the wicked ^atswallow up
Those more righteous than they?
14 Why have You made people like the fish of the sea,
Like crawling things that have no ruler over them?
15 The Chaldeans ^aubring all of them up with a hook,
^avDrag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they rejoice and are joyful.
16 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And ▼

▼Or sacrifice

burn incense to their fishing net,
Because through ^axthese things their ▼

▼Lit portion

catch is ▼

▼Lit fat; or plentiful

large,
And their food is ▼

▼Lit fat

plentiful.
17 Will they therefore empty their ^bbnet,
And continually ^bcslay nations without sparing?