Habakkuk 1

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)

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

New International Version

2 I will stand at my watch^(A)
and station myself on the ramparts;^(B)
I will look to see what he will say^(C) to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.^[a]^(D)

The Lord’s Answer

²Then the Lord replied:

“Write^(E) down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald^[b] may run with it.
³For the revelation awaits an appointed time;^(F)
    it speaks of the end^(G)
    and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait^(H) for it;
    it^[c] will certainly come
    and will not delay.^(I)

⁴“See, the enemy is puffed up;
    his desires are not upright—
    but the righteous person^(J) will live by his faithfulness^[d]^(K)—
⁵indeed, wine^(L) betrays him;
    he is arrogant^(M) and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
    and like death is never satisfied,^(N)
he gathers to himself all the nations
    and takes captive^(O) all the peoples.

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

“‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
    and makes himself wealthy by extortion!^(Q)
    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.^(R)
⁸Because you have plundered many nations,
    the peoples who are left will plunder you.^(S)
For you have shed human blood;^(T)
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.^(U)

⁹“Woe to him who builds^(V) his house by unjust gain,^(W)
    setting his nest^(X) on high
    to escape the clutches of ruin!
¹⁰You have plotted the ruin^(Y) of many peoples,
    shaming^(Z) your own house and forfeiting your life.
¹¹The stones^(AA) 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^(AB)
    and establishes a town by injustice!
¹³Has not the Lord Almighty determined
    that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,^(AC)
    that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?^(AD)
¹⁴For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory^(AE) of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.^(AF)

¹⁵“Woe to him who gives drink^(AG) 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^(AH) instead of glory.^(AI)
    Now it is your turn! Drink^(AJ) and let your nakedness be exposed^[e]!^(AK)
The cup^(AL) from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
    and disgrace will cover your glory.
¹⁷The violence^(AM) you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    and your destruction of animals will terrify you.^(AN)
For you have shed human blood;^(AO)
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

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

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

Footnotes

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

New International Version

Habakkuk’s Prayer

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

²Lord, I have heard^(B) of your fame;
    I stand in awe^(C) of your deeds, Lord.^(D)
Repeat^(E) them in our day,
    in our time make them known;
    in wrath remember mercy.^(F)

³God came from Teman,^(G)
    the Holy One^(H) from Mount Paran.^[b]^(I)
His glory covered the heavens^(J)
    and his praise filled the earth.^(K)
⁴His splendor was like the sunrise;^(L)
    rays flashed from his hand,
    where his power^(M) was hidden.
⁵Plague^(N) went before him;
    pestilence followed his steps.
⁶He stood, and shook the earth;
    he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled^(O)
    and the age-old hills^(P) collapsed^(Q)—
    but he marches on forever.^(R)
⁷I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
    the dwellings of Midian^(S) in anguish.^(T)

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

¹¹Sun and moon stood still^(AB) in the heavens
    at the glint of your flying arrows,^(AC)
    at the lightning^(AD) of your flashing spear.
¹²In wrath you strode through the earth
    and in anger you threshed^(AE) the nations.
¹³You came out^(AF) to deliver^(AG) your people,
    to save your anointed^(AH) one.
You crushed^(AI) 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,^(AJ)
gloating as though about to devour
    the wretched^(AK) who were in hiding.
¹⁵You trampled the sea^(AL) with your horses,
    churning the great waters.^(AM)

¹⁶I heard and my heart pounded,
    my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
    and my legs trembled.^(AN)
Yet I will wait patiently^(AO) 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,^(AP)
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,^(AQ)
¹⁸yet I will rejoice in the Lord,^(AR)
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.^(AS)

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

For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

Footnotes

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.