Habakkuk 1-3

New International Version

1 The prophecy^(A) that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

²How long,^(B) Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?^(C)
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you do not save?^(D)
³Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate^(E) wrongdoing?^(F)
Destruction and violence^(G) are before me;
    there is strife,^(H) and conflict abounds.
⁴Therefore the law^(I) is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice^(J) is perverted.^(K)

The Lord’s Answer

⁵“Look at the nations and watch—
    and be utterly amazed.^(L)
For I am going to do something in your days
    that you would not believe,
    even if you were told.^(M)
⁶I am raising up the Babylonians,^[a]^(N)
    that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth^(O)
    to seize dwellings not their own.^(P)
⁷They are a feared and dreaded people;^(Q)
    they are a law to themselves
    and promote their own honor.
⁸Their horses are swifter^(R) than leopards,
    fiercer than wolves^(S) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
    their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
⁹    they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes^[b] advance like a desert wind
    and gather prisoners^(T) like sand.
¹⁰They mock kings
    and scoff at rulers.^(U)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
    by building earthen ramps^(V) they capture them.
¹¹Then they sweep past like the wind^(W) and go on—
    guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”^(X)

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

¹²Lord, are you not from everlasting?^(Y)
    My God, my Holy One,^(Z) you^[c] will never die.^(AA)
You, Lord, have appointed^(AB) them to execute judgment;
    you, my Rock,^(AC) have ordained them to punish.
¹³Your eyes are too pure^(AD) to look on evil;
    you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.^(AE)
Why then do you tolerate^(AF) the treacherous?^(AG)
    Why are you silent while the wicked
    swallow up those more righteous than themselves?^(AH)
¹⁴You have made people like the fish in the sea,
    like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
¹⁵The wicked^(AI) foe pulls all of them up with hooks,^(AJ)
    he catches them in his net,^(AK)
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
    and so he rejoices and is glad.
¹⁶Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and burns incense^(AL) to his dragnet,
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?^(AM)

2 I will stand at my watch^(AN)
and station myself on the ramparts;^(AO)
I will look to see what he will say^(AP) to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.^[d]^(AQ)

The Lord’s Answer

²Then the Lord replied:

“Write^(AR) down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald^[e] may run with it.
³For the revelation awaits an appointed time;^(AS)
    it speaks of the end^(AT)
    and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait^(AU) for it;
    it^[f] will certainly come
    and will not delay.^(AV)

⁴“See, the enemy is puffed up;
    his desires are not upright—
    but the righteous person^(AW) will live by his faithfulness^[g]^(AX)—
⁵indeed, wine^(AY) betrays him;
    he is arrogant^(AZ) and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
    and like death is never satisfied,^(BA)
he gathers to himself all the nations
    and takes captive^(BB) all the peoples.

⁶“Will not all of them taunt^(BC) him with ridicule and scorn, saying,

“‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
    and makes himself wealthy by extortion!^(BD)
    How long must this go on?’
⁷Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
    Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
    Then you will become their prey.^(BE)
⁸Because you have plundered many nations,
    the peoples who are left will plunder you.^(BF)
For you have shed human blood;^(BG)
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.^(BH)

⁹“Woe to him who builds^(BI) his house by unjust gain,^(BJ)
    setting his nest^(BK) on high
    to escape the clutches of ruin!
¹⁰You have plotted the ruin^(BL) of many peoples,
    shaming^(BM) your own house and forfeiting your life.
¹¹The stones^(BN) of the wall will cry out,
    and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.

¹²“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed^(BO)
    and establishes a town by injustice!
¹³Has not the Lord Almighty determined
    that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,^(BP)
    that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?^(BQ)
¹⁴For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory^(BR) of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.^(BS)

¹⁵“Woe to him who gives drink^(BT) to his neighbors,
    pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
    so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
¹⁶You will be filled with shame^(BU) instead of glory.^(BV)
    Now it is your turn! Drink^(BW) and let your nakedness be exposed^[h]!^(BX)
The cup^(BY) from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
    and disgrace will cover your glory.
¹⁷The violence^(BZ) you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    and your destruction of animals will terrify you.^(CA)
For you have shed human blood;^(CB)
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

¹⁸“Of what value^(CC) is an idol^(CD) carved by a craftsman?
    Or an image^(CE) that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
    he makes idols that cannot speak.^(CF)
¹⁹Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
    Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’^(CG)
Can it give guidance?
    It is covered with gold and silver;^(CH)
    there is no breath in it.”^(CI)

²⁰The Lord is in his holy temple;^(CJ)
let all the earth be silent^(CK) before him.

Habakkuk’s Prayer

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.^[i]^(CL)

²Lord, I have heard^(CM) of your fame;
    I stand in awe^(CN) of your deeds, Lord.^(CO)
Repeat^(CP) them in our day,
    in our time make them known;
    in wrath remember mercy.^(CQ)

³God came from Teman,^(CR)
    the Holy One^(CS) from Mount Paran.^[j]^(CT)
His glory covered the heavens^(CU)
    and his praise filled the earth.^(CV)
⁴His splendor was like the sunrise;^(CW)
    rays flashed from his hand,
    where his power^(CX) was hidden.
⁵Plague^(CY) went before him;
    pestilence followed his steps.
⁶He stood, and shook the earth;
    he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled^(CZ)
    and the age-old hills^(DA) collapsed^(DB)—
    but he marches on forever.^(DC)
⁷I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
    the dwellings of Midian^(DD) in anguish.^(DE)

⁸Were you angry with the rivers,^(DF) Lord?
    Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea^(DG)
    when you rode your horses
    and your chariots to victory?^(DH)
⁹You uncovered your bow,
    you called for many arrows.^(DI)
You split the earth with rivers;
¹⁰    the mountains saw you and writhed.^(DJ)
Torrents of water swept by;
    the deep roared^(DK)
    and lifted its waves^(DL) on high.

¹¹Sun and moon stood still^(DM) in the heavens
    at the glint of your flying arrows,^(DN)
    at the lightning^(DO) of your flashing spear.
¹²In wrath you strode through the earth
    and in anger you threshed^(DP) the nations.
¹³You came out^(DQ) to deliver^(DR) your people,
    to save your anointed^(DS) one.
You crushed^(DT) the leader of the land of wickedness,
    you stripped him from head to foot.
¹⁴With his own spear you pierced his head
    when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,^(DU)
gloating as though about to devour
    the wretched^(DV) who were in hiding.
¹⁵You trampled the sea^(DW) with your horses,
    churning the great waters.^(DX)

¹⁶I heard and my heart pounded,
    my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
    and my legs trembled.^(DY)
Yet I will wait patiently^(DZ) for the day of calamity
    to come on the nation invading us.
¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,^(EA)
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,^(EB)
¹⁸yet I will rejoice in the Lord,^(EC)
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.^(ED)

¹⁹The Sovereign Lord is my strength;^(EE)
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.^(EF)

For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

Footnotes

Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Habakkuk 1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we
Habakkuk 2:1 Or and what to answer when I am rebuked
Habakkuk 2:2 Or so that whoever reads it
Habakkuk 2:3 Or Though he linger, wait for him; / he
Habakkuk 2:4 Or faith
Habakkuk 2:16 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint) and stagger
Habakkuk 3:1 Probably a literary or musical term
Habakkuk 3:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the middle of verse 9 and at the end of verse 13.