Hab 2 | LSB | STEP | I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the fortification; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me And how I may respond when I am reproved.

Habakkuk 2

The Righteous Will Live by His Faith

1 I will stand on my guard post
And station myself on the fortification;
And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me
And how I may respond ^{▼▼Lit upon my reproof}when I am reproved.
2 Then Yahweh answered me and said,
“Write down the vision
And write it on tablets distinctly,
That ^{▼▼Or one may read it fluently}the one who ^{▼▼Or is to proclaim it}reads it may run.
3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It pants toward its end, and it will not ^{▼▼Or fail}lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will certainly come; it will not delay.
4 “Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his ^{▼▼Or faithfulness}faith.
5 “And indeed, wine betrays the haughty man
So that he does not stay at home.
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all nations
And assembles to himself all peoples.
6 “Will not all of these lift up a taunt-song against him,
Even satire and riddles against him
And say, ‘Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself ^{▼▼Lit heavy}rich with loans?’
7 “Will not ^{▼▼Lit those who bite you}your creditors rise up suddenly,
And those who make you tremble awaken?
Indeed, you will become spoil for them.
8 “Because you have taken many nations as spoil,
All that is left of the peoples will take you as spoil—
Because of human bloodshed and violence ^{▼▼Lit of the land}done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
9 “Woe to him who is greedy for evil gain for his house
To put his nest on high,
To be delivered from the hand of evil!
10 “You have counseled a shameful thing for your house
By cutting off many peoples;
So you are sinning against your own soul.
11 “Surely the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the ^{▼▼Lit wood}framework.
12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
And founds a town with injustice!
13 “Is it not, behold, from Yahweh of hosts
That peoples toil for fire,
And nations grow weary for nothing?
14 “For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh,
As the waters cover the sea.
15 “Woe to you who make ^{▼▼Lit his neighbor}your neighbors drink,
Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk
So as to look on their nakedness!
16 “You will be filled with disgrace rather than glory.
Now you yourself drink and ^{▼▼As in DSS and ancient versions; or stagger; lit show yourself uncircumcised}expose your own nakedness.
The cup in Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you,
And utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
17 “For the violence ^{▼▼Lit of Lebanon}done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the devastation of its beasts ^{▼▼Lit which terrified them}by which you terrified them,
Because of human bloodshed and violence ^{▼▼Lit of the land}done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
18 “What profit is the graven image when its maker has engraved it,
Or a molten image, a teacher of ^{▼▼Lit a lie}lies?
For its maker trusts in his own making
When he fashions speechless idols.
19 “Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
And that is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
And there is no breath at all inside it.
20 “But Yahweh is in His holy temple.
^{▼▼ Lit Hush before Him, all the earth}Let all the earth be silent before Him.”