2How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save?3Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.4Therefore the law is paralysed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
The Lord’s answer
5‘Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.6I am raising up the Babylonians,[1] that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.7They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honour.8Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;9they all come intent on violence. Their hordes[2] advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand.10They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them.11Then they sweep past like the wind and go on – guilty people, whose own strength is their god.’
Habakkuk’s second complaint
12Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you[3] will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.13Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?14You have made people like the fish in the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler.15The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his drag-net; and so he rejoices and is glad.16Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his drag-net, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food.17Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy?
Habbakuk 1
English Standard Version
1The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. (Na 1:1)
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? (Ps 13:1; Ps 89:46; Mic 6:12)3Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. (Jer 9:2; Hab 1:2)4So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. (Job 21:7; Jer 12:1; Mic 7:3)
The Lord’s Answer
5“Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. (Isa 28:21; Isa 29:14; Ac 13:41)6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. (Jer 5:15; Hab 2:5; Hab 2:6)7They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. (Hab 1:10)8Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. (De 28:49; Jer 4:13; Jer 5:6; Zep 3:3)9They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. (Jos 11:4; Hab 2:17)10At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. (Eze 4:2; Na 3:12)11Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!” (Ho 13:16; Hab 1:7)
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. (De 32:4; De 33:27; Ps 90:2; Ps 93:2; Isa 10:5; Mal 3:6)13You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? (Ps 5:5; Ps 35:22; Jer 12:1)14You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler.15He[1] brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad. (Isa 19:8; Jer 16:16; Am 4:2)16Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury,[2] and his food is rich. (Hab 1:11)17Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever? (Hab 2:10)