“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but (A)the righteous shall live by his faith.[a]

“Moreover, wine[b] is (B)a traitor,
    an arrogant man who is never at rest.[c]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
    like death (C)he has never enough.
(D)He gathers for himself all nations
    and collects as his own all peoples.”

Woe to the Chaldeans

Shall not all these (E)take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

(F)“Woe to him (G)who heaps up what is not his own—
    for (H)how long?—
    and (I)loads himself with pledges!”
(J)Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
    and those awake who will make you tremble?
    Then you will be spoil for them.
(K)Because you have plundered many nations,
    all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
(L)for the blood of man and (M)violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

(N)“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
    (O)to (P)set his nest on high,
    to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame for your house
    (Q)by cutting off many peoples;
    you have forfeited your life.
11 For (R)the stone will cry out from the wall,
    and the beam from the woodwork respond.

12 (S)“Woe to him (T)who builds a town with blood
    and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
    that (U)peoples labor merely for fire,
    and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 (V)For the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of (W)the glory of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
  2. Habakkuk 2:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth
  3. Habakkuk 2:5 The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain

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