Habakkuk
1:1The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet
saw. 1:2Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will
not hear? I cry out to you "Violence!"
and will you not save? 1:3Why do you show me iniquity, and look
at perversity? For destruction and violence
are before me. There is strife, and contention
rises up. 1:4Therefore the law
is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth;
for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore
justice goes forth perverted.
1:5"Look among the nations, watch, and
wonder marvelously; for I am working a work
in your days, which you will not believe
though it is told you. 1:6For, behold, I raise
up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty
nation, that march through the breadth of
the earth, to possess dwelling places that
are not theirs. 1:7They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment
and their dignity proceed from themselves.
1:8Their horses also
are swifter than leopards, and are more
fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen
press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come
from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries
to devour. 1:9All of them come
for violence. Their hordes face the desert.
He gathers prisoners like sand. 1:10Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes
are a derision to him. He laughs at every
stronghold, for he builds up an earthen
ramp, and takes it. 1:11Then he sweeps
by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed
guilty, whose strength is his god."
1:12Aren't you from everlasting, Yahweh my
God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh,
you have appointed him for judgment. You,
Rock, have established him to punish. 1:13You who have purer eyes than to see evil,
and who cannot look on perversity, why do
you tolerate those who deal treacherously,
and keep silent when the wicked swallows
up the man who is more righteous than he,
1:14and make men like the fish of the sea,
like the creeping things, that have no ruler
over them? 1:15He takes up all of them with the hook.
He catches them in his net, and gathers
them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices
and is glad. 1:16Therefore he sacrifices
to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet,
because by them his life is luxurious, and
his food is good. 1:17Will he therefore
continually empty his net, and kill the
nations without mercy?
2:1I will stand at my watch, and set myself
on the ramparts, and will look out to see
what he will say to me, and what I will
answer concerning my complaint.
2:2Yahweh answered me, "Write the vision,
and make it plain on tablets, that he may
run who reads it. 2:3For the vision is yet for the appointed
time, and it hurries toward the end, and
won't prove false. Though it takes time,
wait for it; because it will surely come.
It won't delay. 2:4Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not
upright in him, but the righteous will live
by his faith. 2:5Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. A
haughty man who doesn't stay at home, who
enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is
like death, and can't be satisfied, but
gathers to himself all nations, and heaps
to himself all peoples. 2:6Won't all these take up a parable against
him, and a taunting proverb against him,
and say, 'Woe to him who increases that
which is not his, and who enriches himself
by extortion! How long?' 2:7Won't your debtors rise up suddenly, and
wake up those who make you tremble, and
you will be their victim? 2:8Because you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples will plunder
you, because of men's blood, and for the
violence done to the land, to the city and
to all who dwell in it. 2:9Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his
house, that he may set his nest on high,
that he may be delivered from the hand of
evil! 2:10You have devised shame to your house,
by cutting off many peoples, and have sinned
against your soul. 2:11For the stone will cry out of the wall,
and the beam out of the woodwork will answer
it. 2:12Woe to him who builds a town with blood,
and establishes a city by iniquity! 2:13Behold, isn't it
of Yahweh of Hosts that the peoples labor
for the fire, and the nations weary themselves
for vanity? 2:14For the earth will
be filled with the knowledge of the glory
of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.
2:15"Woe to him who gives his neighbor
drink, pouring your inflaming wine until
they are drunk, so that you may gaze at
their naked bodies! 2:16You are filled
with shame, and not glory. You will also
drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh's
right hand will come around to you, and
disgrace will cover your glory. 2:17For the violence done to Lebanon will
overwhelm you, and the destruction of the
animals, which made them afraid; because
of men's blood, and for the violence done
to the land, to every city and to those
who dwell in them.
2:18"What value does the engraved image
have, that its maker has engraved it; the
molten image, even the teacher of lies,
that he who fashions its form trusts in
it, to make mute idols? 2:19Woe to him who says to the wood, 'Awake!'
or to the mute stone, 'Arise!' Shall this
teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold
and silver, and there is no breath at all
in the midst of it. 2:20But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let
all the earth be silent before him!"
3:1A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set
to victorious music.
3:2Yahweh, I have heard of your fame.
I stand
in awe of your deeds, Yahweh.
Renew your work in the midst of
the years.
In the
midst of the years make it known.
In wrath,
you remember mercy.
3:3God came from Teman,
The
Holy One from Mount Paran.
Selah.
His glory covered the heavens,
And
his praise filled the earth.
3:4His splendor is like the sunrise.
Rays
shine from his hand, where his power is
hidden.
3:5Plague went before him,
And
pestilence followed his feet.
3:6He stood, and shook the earth.
He looked,
and made the nations tremble.
The
ancient mountains were crumbled.
The
age-old hills collapsed.
His
ways are eternal.
3:7I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction.
The
dwellings of the land of Midian trembled.
3:8Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers?
Was
your anger against the rivers,
Or your
wrath against the sea,
That
you rode on your horses,
On your
chariots of salvation?
3:9You uncovered your bow.
You
called for your sworn arrows.
Selah.
You split the earth with rivers.
3:10The mountains saw you, and were afraid.
The
tempest of waters passed by.
The
deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.
3:11The sun and moon stood still in the sky,
At the
light of your arrows as they went,
At the
shining of your glittering spear.
3:12You marched through the land in wrath.
You
threshed the nations in anger.
3:13You went forth for the salvation of your
people,
For
the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the land
of wickedness.
You
stripped them head to foot.
Selah.
3:14You pierced the heads of his warriors
with their own spears.
They
came as a whirlwind to scatter me,
Gloating
as if to devour the wretched in secret.
3:15You trampled the sea with your horses,
Churning
mighty waters.
3:16I heard, and my body trembled.
My lips
quivered at the voice.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
and I tremble in my place,
Because
I must wait quietly for the day of trouble,
For
the coming up of the people who invade us.
3:17For though the fig tree doesn't flourish,
Nor
fruit be in the vines;
The
labor of the olive fails,
The
fields yield no food;
The
flocks are cut off from the fold,
And
there is no herd in the stalls:
3:18Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh.
I will
be joyful in the God of my salvation!
3:19Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength.
He makes
my feet like deer's feet,
And
enables me to go in high places.
For the music director, on my stringed
instruments.
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