1 1 The prophecy which was revealed to the prophet Habakkuk. 2 How long, O Jehovah, do I cry, and thou dost not hear! How long do I complain to thee of violence, and thou dost not save! 3 Why dost thou suffer me to see iniquity, And why dost thou look upon wickedness? For spoiling and violence are before me; There is contention, and strife exalteth itself. 4 Therefore the law faileth, And judgment is not pronounced according to truth; For the wicked encompasseth the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment is pronounced. 5 Behold ye among the nations, and look! Yea, wonder, and be astonished! For I do a work in your days Which ye will not believe though it be told you. 6 For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, A fierce and swift people, Which go over the breadth of the earth, To take possession of dwelling-places that are not their own. 7 They are terrible and dreadful; From themselves go forth their law and their dignity. 8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, And fiercer than evening wolves. Their horsemen leap proudly; Their horsemen come from far; They fly like an eagle, hastening to devour. 9 All of them come for violence; The multitude of their faces is directed forwards, And they gather captives as sand. 10 They also scoff at kings, And princes are to them a laughing-stock; They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earth and take it. 11 Then their spirit is uplifted, and they transgress, and become guilty; This their strength is made their god. 12 Art thou not from everlasting, O Jehovah, my God, my Holy One? We shall not die! Thou, O Jehovah, hast appointed them for judgment; Thou, O Rock, hast ordained them for chastisement. 13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, And canst not look on wickedness; Why then dost thou look on transgressors, And art silent, when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he? 14 And why makest thou men as the fishes of the sea, As the reptiles that have no ruler? 15 They take up all of them with the hook, They catch them in their net, And gather them in their drag; Therefore they rejoice and exult. 16 Therefore they sacrifice to their net, And burn incense to their drag; Because by them their portion is fat, And their food plenteous. 17 Shall they therefore empty the net, And slay the nations continually without mercy?
2 1 I will stand on my watch-tower, And set myself on the bulwark, And watch to see what he will say to me, And what I shall answer to my expostulation. 2 And Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, That he may run that readeth it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, But it hasteneth to the end; it shall not deceive; If it tarry, wait for it; For it shall surely come; it shall not long delay. 4 Behold, the soul of him that is puffed up shall not be at ease; But the just shall live by his faithfulness. 5 Behold, the man of wine is outrageous; The proud man remaineth not at rest; He enlargeth his desire as the grave; He is as death, and cannot be satisfied; He gathereth to himself all the nations, And collecteth to himself all the kingdoms. 6 Shall not all of them utter a song against him, Yea, songs of reproach and derision concerning him? And say, Woe to him that heapeth up that which belongeth not to him! For how long a time? That ladeth himself with goods taken in pledge! 7 Shall not they suddenly rise up that will oppress thee, And awake, that will harass thee? Yea, thou shalt be their booty. 8 Because thou hast plundered many kingdoms, All the residue of the nations shall plunder thee: For the blood of men, and for violence against the land, Against the city and all its inhabitants. 9 Woe to him that procureth unjust gain for his house, That he may set his nest on high, That he may be delivered from the evil hand! 10 Thou hast devised shame for thine house; By destroying many nations, thou hast brought ruin upon thyself. 11 For the stone from the wall crieth out, And the beam from the timber answereth it. 12 Woe to him that buildeth a town by blood, And establisheth a city by iniquity! 13 Behold, it is determined by Jehovah of hosts, That nations shall labor for the fire, And kingdoms weary themselves for naught. 14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, As the waters cover the sea. 15 Woe to him who giveth his neighbor drink; Who poureth out the strong wine, and maketh him drunken, That he may look upon his nakedness! 16 Thou shalt be filled with shame instead of glory; Drink thou also, and show thy foreskin! To thee shall come the cup in the right hand of Jehovah, And foul shame shall be upon thy glory. 17 For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, And the destruction of the beasts which made them afraid, On account of the blood of men, and violence against the land, Against the city and all its inhabitants. 18 What profiteth the graven image, When the maker hath graven it? Or the molten image, and the teacher of lies, That the artificer trusteth in his work, When he maketh dumb idols? 19 Woe to him who saith to the wood, Awake! To the dumb stone, Arise! Will it teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath within it. 20 But Jehovah is in his Holy temple; Be silent before him, all the earth!
3 1 The prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, in the form of an ode. 2 O Jehovah, I have heard thy words, and tremble. O Jehovah, revive thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known, In wrath remember mercy! 3 God cometh from Teman, And the Holy One from mount Paran; His glory covereth the heavens, And the earth is full of his praise. 4 His brightness is as the light; Rays stream forth from his hand, And there is the hiding-place of his power. 5 Before him goeth the pestilence, And the plague followeth his steps. 6 He standeth, and measureth the earth; He beholdeth, and maketh the nations tremble; The everlasting mountains are broken asunder; The eternal hills sink down; The eternal paths are trodden by him. 7 I see the tents of Cushan in affliction, And the canopies of the land of Midian tremble. 8 Is the anger of Jehovah kindled against the rivers, Is thy wrath against the rivers, Is thy indignation against the floods, That thou ridest on with thy horses, Upon thy chariots of victory? 9 Thy bow is made bare; Curses are the arrows of thy word; Thou causest rivers to break forth from the earth. 10 The mountains see thee and tremble; The flood of waters overflows; The deep uttereth his voice, And lifteth up his hands on high. 11 The sun and the moon remain in their habitation, At the light of thine arrows which fly, At the brightness of the lightning of thy spear. 12 Thou marchest through the land in indignation; Thou thrashest the nations in anger; 13 Thou goest forth for the deliverance of thy people, For the deliverance of thine anointed. Thou smitest the head of the house of the wicked; Thou destroyest the foundation even to the neck. 14 Thou piercest with his own spears the chief of his captains, Who rushed like a whirlwind to scatter us; Who exulted, as if they should devour the distressed in a hiding-place. 15 Thou ridest through the sea with thy horses, Through the raging of mighty waters. 16 I have heard, and my heart trembleth; My lips quiver at the voice; Rottenness entereth into my bones, and my knees tremble, That I must wait in silence for the day of trouble, When the invader shall come up against my people! 17 For the fig-tree shall not blossom, And there shall be no fruit upon the vine; The produce of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no food. The flocks shall he cut off from the folds, And there shall be no herd in the stalls. 18 Yet will I rejoice in Jehovah, I will exult in God, my helper. 19 The Lord Jehovah is my strength; He will make my feet like the hind's, And cause me to walk upon my high places. “To the leader of the music on my stringed instruments.”