Habakkuk’s first complaint

2 I said, “Yahweh, how long must I continue to call to you for help

before you respond?

I cry out to you for help, saying that people are acting violently everywhere,

but you do not rescue us!

3 ◄Must I/I do not want to► continue seeing people doing what is unjust [RHQ].

Why do you not punish people who are doing what is wrong [RHQ]?

I see people destroying things and acting violently.

There is fighting and quarreling everywhere.

4 No one obeys laws [PRS],

and judges [PRS] never do what is fair/just.

Wicked people always defeat righteous people in the courts,

with the result that matters are never decided fairly/justly.”

Yahweh’s reply

5 Yahweh replied to me,

“I know that what you say is true, but look around at what is happening in the other nations;

if you look, you will be amazed,

because I am doing something during this time that you would not believe would happen,

even if someone told you about it.

6 The soldiers of Babylonia are fierce/cruel and swift.

And now I am causing them to become very powerful;

they will march across the world

and conquer many other countries.

7 They are people whom others fear very much [DOU],

and they do whatever they want to,

paying no attention to the laws of other countries.

8 The horses that pull their chariots go faster than leopards,

and they are fiercer than wolves are in the evening.

The horses on which the soldiers ride gallop swiftly;

the soldiers riding them come from distant places.

They are like [SIM] eagles that swoop down to snatch and kill small animals.

9 As they ride along,

they are determined to act violently.

They advance like [SIM] a wind from the desert,

gathering prisoners that are as numerous as grains of sand.

10 They make fun of kings and princes of other countries,

and they ridicule all the cities that have high walls around them.

They pile dirt outside those walls

in order to climb up and capture those cities.

11 They rush past like the wind,

and then they go to attack other cities.

But they are very guilty,

because they think that their own power is their god.”

Habakkuk’s second complaint

12 Then I said, “Yahweh, you have certainly [RHQ] always/forever been God.

You are my Holy One; you will not die.

So why have you appointed those men from Babylonia to judge and get rid of us?

You are like [MET] a huge rock under which we are protected/safe,

so why have you sent them to punish us?

13 You [SYN] are pure, and you cannot endure looking at what is evil,

so why are you ignoring men who are treacherous?

Why do you do nothing

to punish those wicked men from Babylonia

who destroy people who are more righteous than they are?

14 Do you consider that we are like fish in the sea,

or like other creatures in the sea, that have no ruler?

15 The soldiers of Babylonia think that we are fish [RHQ] for them to pull out of the sea with hooks

or to catch in their nets,

while they rejoice and celebrate.

16 If they catch us, they will worship their weapons [MET] with which they captured us, and offer sacrifices to them

and burn incense in front of them!

They will say ‘Those weapons have enabled us to become rich and be able to eat expensive food.’

17 Will you allow them to continue to conquer people [MET] forever?

Will you allow them to destroy people of other nations without their being merciful to anyone?”

2 After I said that, I said to myself, “I will climb up into my watchtower,

and stand there at my guard post.

I will wait there to find out what Yahweh will say,

what he will reply to what I have complained about.”

Yahweh’s second reply

2 Then Yahweh replied to me,

“Write plainly on tablets what I am revealing to you in this vision,

and then read it to a messenger

in order that he can run with it to tell it to other people.

3 In this vision I will be talking about things that will happen in the future.

Now is not the time when those things will happen,

but they certainly will happen,

and when they occur, they will occur quickly,

and they will not be delayed.

Now you want those things to happen immediately, but they are not happening.

But wait patiently for them to happen!

4 Think about the proud people of Babylonia!

They are certainly not doing what is righteous.

But people who are righteous will live

because they faithfully do what I want them to do.

5 If people trust in their wealth, they will deceive themselves,

and proud people are never able to rest.

It is as though the greedy people of Babylonia open their mouths as wide as the place where dead people are,

and they never have enough,

like the place where dead people go never has enough dead people [PRS].

The armies of Babylonia conquer many nations for themselves,

and capture all their people.

6 But soon all those whom they have captured will ridicule the soldiers from Babylonia!

They will make fun of them, saying,

‘Terrible things will happen to you who have stolen things from other countries!

You got many things by forcing people to give them to you.

But you certainly will not keep those things for a long time [RHQ]!’

7 Suddenly those whom you ◄oppressed/treated cruelly► will cause you to tremble,

and they will take away all the things that you have stolen from them.

8 You stole things from the people of many nations.

You murdered [MTY] people of many people-groups,

and you destroyed their land and their cities.

So those who are still alive will steal valuable things from you.

9 Terrible things will happen to you people of Babylonia who build big houses

with money that you got by forcing others to give it to you.

You are proud and you think that your houses will be safe

because you have built them in places where you can easily defend them.

10 But because you have destroyed others,

you have caused your family [MTY] to be shamed/disgraced,

and you yourselves will be killed.

11 It is as though the stones in the walls of your houses cry out to accuse you,

and it is as though the beams in your ceilings also say the same things.

12 Terrible things will happen to you people of Babylonia who kill people [MTY] in order to build cities,

cities that you build by using money that you have gotten by committing crimes.

13 But the Commander of the armies of angels has [RHQ] declared that everything that is built by people who do things like that will be destroyed by fire;

they will have worked hard uselessly.

14 But in contrast, like [SIM] the oceans are filled with water,

the earth will be filled with people who know that Yahweh is very great.

15 Terrible things will happen to you people of Babylonia

who cause people who live in nearby countries to become drunk.

You force them to drink a lot of wine from wineskins

until they are drunk and then they walk around naked,

in order that you can see that.

16 But you are the ones who soon will be disgraced instead of being honored.

It will be as though you are forced to drink a lot of wine in order that you will also stagger around, drunk.

You will drink the wine that symbolizes that Yahweh will punish you,

and he will cause you to be disgraced instead of being greatly respected any more.

17 You did violent [PRS] things to the people in Lebanon,

and you killed the wild animals there,

but you will be punished severely for doing that.

You have killed [MTY] many people

and you have destroyed their lands and their cities.

18 You people of Babylonia need to know that your idols are completely [RHQ] useless,

because it is people who made them.

Statues that have been carved or made in a mold deceive you.

Those who trust in idols

are trusting in things that they themselves created,

things that cannot speak!

19 Terrible things will happen to you who say to lifeless idols that are made of wood,

‘Wake up!’

Idols certainly cannot [RHQ] tell you what you should do;

they look nice/beautiful because they are covered with silver and gold,

but they are not alive.

20 But Yahweh is in his holy temple;

everyone on the earth should be silent in his presence.”

A prayer sung by Habakkuk

32 1-2Yahweh, I have heard about you;

I revere you because of all the amazing things that you have done.

In our time, do again some of those things that you did long ago!

Even when you are angry with us,

be merciful to us!

3 In the vision, I saw God, the Holy One, coming from the Teman district in Edom;

and I also saw him coming from the Paran Hills in the Sinai area.

His glory filled the sky,

and the earth was full of people who were praising him.

4 His glory was like [SIM] a sunrise;

rays flashed from his hands

where he hides his power.

5 He sent plagues in front of him,

and other plagues came behind him.

6 When he stopped, the earth shook.

When he looked at the nations,

all the people trembled.

The hills and mountains that have existed for a very long time [HYP] collapsed and crumbled.

Yahweh is the one who exists eternally/forever!

7 In the vision I saw the people who live in tents in the Cushan region being afflicted,

and the people in the Midian region trembling.

8 Yahweh, was it because you were angry with the rivers and streams that you were angry with them?

Did the seas cause you to be furious,

with the result that you rode through them with horses that were pulling chariots

that enabled you to defeat them?

9 It was as though you uncovered your bow,

took arrows from your quiver, and prepared to shoot them.

Then with lightning you split open the earth,

and streams burst forth.

10 It is as though the mountains saw you doing that,

and they trembled.

Floods rushed by;

it was as though the deep ocean roared and caused its waves to rise up high.

11 The sun and moon stopped moving in the sky

while your lightning flashed past like a swift arrow,

and your glittering spear flashed.

12 Being very angry [DOU], you walked across the earth

and trampled the armies of many nations.

13 But you also went to rescue us, your people,

and to save the king (Or, people) whom you had chosen [MTY].

You struck down the leader [MTY] of those wicked people

and stripped off his clothes, from his head to his feet.

14 With his own spear you destroyed the leader of those soldiers who rushed like [SIM] a whirlwind to attack and scatter us,

thinking that they could conquer us Israelis easily.

15 You walked through the sea with your horses to destroy our enemies,

and caused the waves to surge.

16 When I saw that vision,

my heart pounded

and my lips quivered

because I became afraid.

My legs became weak

and I shook, because I was terrified.

But I will wait quietly for the people of Babylonia, those who invaded our country, to experience disasters!

17 Therefore,

even if there are no blossoms on the fig trees,

and there are no grapes on the grapevines,

and even if there are no olives growing on the olive trees,

and there are no crops in the fields,

and even if the flocks of sheep and goats die in the fields,

and there are no cattle in the stalls/barns,

18 I will rejoice because I know Yahweh.

I will be joyful because Yahweh my God is the one who saves me!

19 Yahweh the Lord is the one who causes me to be strong;

he enables me to climb ◄safely/without falling► in the rocky mountains, like [SIM] a deer does.

(This message is for the choir director:

When this prayer is sung, it is to be accompanied by people playing stringed instruments.)