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Habakkuk 1-3
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Habakkuk 1-3
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
1 The oracle of God which Habak′kuk the prophet saw.
The Prophet’s Complaint
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and thou wilt not hear?
Or cry to thee “Violence!”
and thou wilt not save?
3 Why dost thou make me see wrongs
and look upon trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
4 So the law is slacked
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous,
so justice goes forth perverted.
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.
6 For lo, I am rousing the Chalde′ans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize habitations not their own.
7 Dread and terrible are they;
their justice and dignity proceed from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Yea, their horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence;
terror[a] of them goes before them.
They gather captives like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
and of rulers they make sport.
They laugh at every fortress,
for they heap up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
guilty men, whose own might is their god!
12 Art thou not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, thou hast ordained them as a judgment;
and thou, O Rock, hast established them for chastisement.
13 Thou who art of purer eyes than to behold evil
and canst not look on wrong,
why dost thou look on faithless men,
and art silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
14 For thou makest men like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 He brings all of them up with a hook,
he drags them out with his net,
he gathers them in his seine;
so he rejoices and exults.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to his seine;
for by them he lives in luxury,[b]
and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net,
and mercilessly slaying nations for ever?
God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint
2 I will take my stand to watch,
and station myself on the tower,
and look forth to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
2 And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
make it plain upon tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still the vision awaits its time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seem slow, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
4 Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail,[c]
but the righteous shall live by his faith.[d]
5 Moreover, wine is treacherous;
the arrogant man shall not abide.[e]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations,
and collects as his own all peoples.”
The Woes of the Wicked
6 Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, in scoffing derision of him, and say,
“Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own—
for how long?—
and loads himself with pledges!”
7 Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be booty for them.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
for the blood of men and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell therein.
9 Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
to set his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame to your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11 For the stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 Woe to him who builds a town with blood,
and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that peoples labor only for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nought?
14 For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
15 Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink
of the cup of his wrath,[f] and makes them drunk,
to gaze on their shame!
16 You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, yourself, and stagger![g]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and shame will come upon your glory!
17 The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
the destruction of the beasts will terrify you,[h]
for the blood of men and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell therein.
18 What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, a teacher of lies?
For the workman trusts in his own creation
when he makes dumb idols!
19 Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a dumb stone, Arise!
Can this give revelation?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and there is no breath at all in it.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him.
3 A prayer of Habak′kuk the prophet, according to Shigion′oth.
The Prophet’s Prayer
2 O Lord, I have heard the report of thee,
and thy work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years renew it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
Selah
4 His brightness was like the light,
rays flashed from his hand;
and there he veiled his power.
5 Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed close behind.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
he looked and shook the nations;
then the eternal mountains were scattered,
the everlasting hills sank low.
His ways were as of old.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
the curtains of the land of Mid′ian did tremble.
8 Was thy wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
Was thy anger against the rivers,
or thy indignation against the sea,
when thou didst ride upon thy horses,
upon thy chariot of victory?
9 Thou didst strip the sheath from thy bow,
and put the arrows to the string.[i]
Selah
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw thee, and writhed;
the raging waters swept on;
the deep gave forth its voice,
it lifted its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation[j]
at the light of thine arrows as they sped,
at the flash of thy glittering spear.
12 Thou didst bestride the earth in fury,
thou didst trample the nations in anger.
13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,
for the salvation of thy anointed.
Thou didst crush the head of the wicked,[k]
laying him bare from thigh to neck.[l]
Selah
14 Thou didst pierce with thy[m] shafts the head of his warriors,[n]
who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
15 Thou didst trample the sea with thy horses,
the surging of mighty waters.
16 I hear, and my body trembles,
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones,
my steps totter[o] beneath me.
I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.
Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble
17 Though the fig tree do not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
he makes me tread upon my high places.
To the choirmaster: with stringed[p] instruments.
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:9 Cn: Heb uncertain
- Habakkuk 1:16 Heb his portion is fat
- Habakkuk 2:4 Cn: Heb is puffed up
- Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
- Habakkuk 2:5 The Hebrew of these two lines is obscure
- Habakkuk 2:15 Cn: Heb joining to your wrath
- Habakkuk 2:16 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb be uncircumcised
- Habakkuk 2:17 Gk Syr: Heb them
- Habakkuk 3:9 Cn: Heb obscure
- Habakkuk 3:11 Heb uncertain
- Habakkuk 3:13 Cn: Heb head from the house of the wicked
- Habakkuk 3:13 Heb obscure
- Habakkuk 3:14 Heb his
- Habakkuk 3:14 Vg Compare Gk Syr: Heb uncertain
- Habakkuk 3:16 Cn Compare Gk: Heb I tremble because
- Habakkuk 3:19 Heb my stringed
Habakkuk 1-3
New International Version
Habakkuk 1-3
New International Version
1 The prophecy(A) that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2 How 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)
3 Why 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.
4 Therefore 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)
6 I 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)
7 They are a feared and dreaded people;(Q)
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
8 Their 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.
10 They mock kings
and scoff at rulers.(U)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen ramps(V) they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind(W) and go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”(X)
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12 Lord, 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.
13 Your 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)
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The 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.
16 Therefore 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.
17 Is 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
2 Then the Lord replied:
“Write(AR) down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald[e] may run with it.
3 For 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)—
5 indeed, 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?’
7 Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
Then you will become their prey.(BE)
8 Because 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!
10 You have plotted the ruin(BL) of many peoples,
shaming(BM) your own house and forfeiting your life.
11 The 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!
13 Has 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)
14 For 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!
16 You 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.
17 The 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)
19 Woe 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)
Habakkuk’s Prayer
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.[i](CL)
2 Lord, 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)
3 God 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)
4 His splendor was like the sunrise;(CW)
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power(CX) was hidden.
5 Plague(CY) went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
6 He 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)
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian(DD) in anguish.(DE)
8 Were 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)
9 You 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.
11 Sun and moon stood still(DM) in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,(DN)
at the lightning(DO) of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed(DP) the nations.
13 You 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.
14 With 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.
15 You trampled the sea(DW) with your horses,
churning the great waters.(DX)
16 I 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.
17 Though 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)
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,(EC)
I will be joyful in God my Savior.(ED)
19 The 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.
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.