Habakkuk 1

1 This is the burden that Habakkuk the prophet received in a vision:

2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?

3 Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.

4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

5 “Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.

6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.

7 They are dreaded and feared; from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.

8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.

9 All of them come bent on violence; their hordes advance like the east wind; they gather prisoners like sand.

10 They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.

11 Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their own strength is their god.”

12 Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O LORD, You have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, You have established them for correction.

13 Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

14 You have made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler.

15 The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly.

16 Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.

17 Will he, therefore, empty his net and continue to slay nations without mercy?

1 ¶ The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! [even] cry out unto thee [of] violence, and thou wilt not save!

3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause [me] to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence [are] before me: and there are [that] raise up strife and contention.

4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

5 ¶ Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] ye will not believe, though it be told [you].

6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, [that] bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces [that are] not theirs.

7 They [are] terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle [that] hasteth to eat.

9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up [as] the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.

11 Then shall [his] mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, [imputing] this his power unto his god.

12 ¶ [Art] thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

13 [Thou art] of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, [and] holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth [the man that is] more righteous than he?

14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, [that have] no ruler over them?

15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion [is] fat, and their meat plenteous.

17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

1 This is the burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.

2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? How long shall I cry unto thee for iniquity, and thou wilt not help?

3 Why hast thou made me to see toil and labour? Why showest thou me robbery and iniquity? There is violence above justice.

4 Wherefore things go not at all but right, and no right thing can be gained: for the wicked overreaches the righteous, and therefore wrong judgments go.

5 Look ye among the heathen, and see, and marvel: for I will do a thing in your days, which ye shall not believe, when it shall be spoken of.

6 For, behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and quick people, which shall go as far as the land, to possess dwellings that are not theirs,

7 And shall be cruel and terrible, which shall command and compel as it pleaseth.

8 Their horses are swifter than the horses of the parade; and they are more biting than the wolves of the evening. Their horsemen go forth from afar in great multitudes, as if they flew, as the eagles hasten to the carrion.

9 They come all of them to do harm: whithersoever they go they tear through like an east wind, and shall gather captives together like the sand.

10 They shall mock at kings, and laugh at princes. All fortresses shall be a jest unto them: for they shall make rubble, and yet gain them.

11 Then shall they take courage again, and shall go on and sin: then must their victory be of their God.

12 But thou, O LORD my God, my Holy One, who art from everlasting, let us not die, but let them be to us, O LORD, only a punishment, and let them, O our refuge, only chasten us!

13 Thine eyes are pure, that thou canst not see evil; and thou canst not look upon the affliction. Why then dost thou look upon the scornful, and holdest thy peace? for the wicked devoureth him that is more pious than he,

14 And let men go as fishes in the sea, as creeping things that have no master?

15 They draw it all with their hempen, and haul it with their net, and gather it with their yarn: they rejoice and are glad.

16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their nets, and burn incense unto their yarn; because by them their portion is made fat, and their meat is made whole.

17 Therefore they cast their net still, and will not cease to strangle men.