Habakkuk 2-3
Christian Standard Bible
Habakkuk Waits for God’s Response
2 I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.(A)
I will watch to see what he will say to me(B)
and what I should[a] reply about my complaint.
God’s Second Answer
2 The Lord answered me:
Write down this vision;(C)
clearly inscribe it on tablets
so one may easily read it.[b]
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time;(D)
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.(E)
4 Look, his ego is inflated;[c]
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.[d](F)
5 Moreover, wine[e] betrays;
an arrogant man is never at rest.[f]
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
and like Death he is never satisfied.(G)
He gathers all the nations to himself;(H)
he collects all the peoples for himself.
The Five Woe Oracles
6 Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,(I)
with mockery and riddles about him?
They will say,
“Woe to him who amasses what is not his—
how much longer?(J)—
and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.”(K)
7 Won’t your creditors suddenly arise,
and those who disturb you wake up?
Then you will become spoil for them.(L)
8 Since you have plundered many nations,(M)
all the peoples who remain will plunder you(N)—
because of human bloodshed
and violence(O) against lands, cities,
and all who live in them.(P)
9 Woe to him who dishonestly makes
wealth for his house[g](Q)
to place his nest on high,
to escape the grasp of disaster!(R)
10 You have planned shame for your house
by wiping out many peoples
and sinning against your own self.
11 For the stones will cry out(S) from the wall,
and the rafters will answer them
from the woodwork.
12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and founds a town with injustice!(T)
13 Is it not from the Lord of Armies
that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire
and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?(U)
14 For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,
as the water covers the sea.(V)
15 Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath[h]
and even making them drunk,
in order to look at their nakedness!
16 You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.
You also—drink,
and expose your uncircumcision![i]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and utter disgrace will cover your glory.(W)
17 For your violence against Lebanon
will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you[j]
because of your human bloodshed and violence
against lands, cities, and all who live in them.
18 What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes worthless idols that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!
or to mute stone: Come alive!
Can it teach?
Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,
yet there is no breath(X) in it at all.
Habakkuk’s Third Prayer
3 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. According to Shigionoth.[k](AA)
2 Lord, I have heard the report about you;
Lord, I stand in awe of your deeds.(AB)
Revive your work in these years;
make it known in these years.
In your wrath remember mercy!(AC)
3 God comes from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.(AD)Selah
His splendor covers the heavens,
and the earth is full of his praise.(AE)
4 His brilliance is like light;
rays are flashing from his hand.
This is where his power is hidden.
5 Plague goes before him,
and pestilence follows in his steps.
6 He stands and shakes[l] the earth;(AF)
he looks and startles the nations.
The age-old mountains break apart;
the ancient hills sink down.(AG)
His pathways are ancient.(AH)
7 I see the tents of Cushan[m] in distress;
the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.
8 Are you angry at the rivers, Lord?
Is your wrath against the rivers?
Or is your fury against the sea
when you ride on your horses,
your victorious chariot?(AI)
9 You took the sheath from your bow;
the arrows are ready[n] to be used with an oath.[o](AJ)Selah
You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains see you and shudder;(AK)
a downpour of water sweeps by.
The deep roars with its voice(AL)
and lifts its waves[p] high.
11 Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence,(AM)
at the flash of your flying arrows,
at the brightness of your shining spear.
12 You march across the earth with indignation;
you trample down the nations in wrath.(AN)
13 You come out to save your people,(AO)
to save your anointed.[q]
You crush the leader of the house of the wicked
and strip him from foot[r] to neck.Selah
14 You pierce his head
with his own spears;
his warriors storm out to scatter us,
gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.
15 You tread the sea with your horses,
stirring up the vast water.(AP)
Habakkuk’s Confidence in God Expressed
16 I heard, and I trembled within;(AQ)
my lips quivered at the sound.
Rottenness entered my bones;
I trembled where I stood.
Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress(AR)
to come against the people invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though the flocks disappear from the pen
and there are no herds in the stalls,
18 yet I will celebrate in the Lord;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!(AS)
19 The Lord my Lord is my strength;(AT)
he makes my feet like those of a deer(AU)
and enables me to walk on mountain heights!(AV)
For the choir director: on[s] stringed instruments.
Footnotes
- 2:1 Syr reads what he will
- 2:2 Lit one who reads in it may run
- 2:4 Hb obscure
- 2:4 Or faithfulness
- 2:5 DSS read wealth
- 2:5 Or man does not endure; Hb obscure
- 2:9 Or dynasty
- 2:15 Or venom
- 2:16 DSS, LXX, Aq, Syr, Vg read and stagger
- 2:17 DSS, LXX, Aq, Syr, Tg, Vg; MT reads them
- 3:1 Perhaps a passionate song with rapid changes of rhythm, or a dirge
- 3:6 Or surveys
- 3:7 = Midian
- 3:9 Or set
- 3:9 Hb obscure
- 3:10 Lit hands
- 3:13 The Davidic king or the nation of Israel
- 3:13 Lit foundation
- 3:19 Lit on my
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