Hab 1:1-11, 2:4-20 | ESV | STEP | The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw .

2 O Lord, ^bhow long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you ^c“Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 ^dWhy do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction ^eand violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
4 ^fSo the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
^gFor the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.

The Lord’s Answer

5 ^h“Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
ⁱFor I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6 For behold, ^jI am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
^kwho march through the breadth of the earth,
^lto seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
^mtheir justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 ⁿTheir horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than ^othe evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
^pthey fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come ^qfor violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives ^rlike sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
^sThey laugh at every fortress,
for ^tthey pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
^uguilty men, ^vwhose own might is their god!”

Habakkuk 2:4-20

4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but ^wthe righteous shall live by his faith. ^{▼▼Or faithfulness}
5 “Moreover, wine ^{▼▼Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth} is ^za traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest. ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain}
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death ^abhe has never enough.
^acHe gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”

Woe to the Chaldeans

6 Shall not all these ^adtake up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

^ae“Woe to him ^afwho heaps up what is not his own—
for ^aghow long?—
and ^ahloads himself with pledges!”
7 ^aiWill not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be spoil for them.
8 ^ajBecause you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
^akfor the blood of man and ^alviolence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
9 ^am“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
^anto ^aoset his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame for your house
^apby cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11 For ^aqthe stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 ^ar“Woe to him ^aswho builds a town with blood
and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that ^atpeoples labor merely for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 ^auFor the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of ^avthe glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
15 ^aw“Woe to him ^axwho makes his neighbors drink—
you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
in order to gaze ^ayat their nakedness!
16 You will have your fill ^azof shame instead of glory.
^baDrink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
^bbThe cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and ^bcutter shame will come upon your glory!
17 ^bdThe violence ^bedone to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
^bffor the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
18 ^bg“What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, ^bha teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes ^bispeechless idols!
19 ^bjWoe to him ^bkwho says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and ^blthere is no breath at all in it.
20 But ^bmthe Lord is in his holy temple;
^bnlet all the earth keep silence before him.”