Bible (Berean Standard)/Habakkuk
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For other versions of this work, see Habakkuk (Bible).
Habakkuk’s First Complaint
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.
The LORD’s Answer
- 5 “Look at the nations and observe—
- be utterly astounded![1]
- For I am doing a work in your days
- that you would never believe
- even if someone told you.[2]
- 6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans [3]—
- 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 on through.
- They are guilty;
- their own strength is their god.”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
(Psalm 11:1–7)
- 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 [4] 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?
The LORD Answers Again
- 2 I will stand at my guard post
- and station myself on the ramparts.
- I will watch to see what He will say to me,
- and how I should answer when corrected.
2 Then the LORD answered me:
- “Write down this vision
- and clearly inscribe it on tablets,
- so that a herald may run with it.
- 3 For the vision awaits an appointed time;
- it testifies of the end and does not lie.
- Though it lingers, wait for it,
- since it will surely come and will not delay.[5]
- 4 Look at the proud one; his soul is not upright [6]—
- but the righteous will live by faith [7]—
- 5 and wealth [8] indeed betrays him.
- He is an arrogant man never at rest.
- He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
- and like Death, he is never satisfied.
- He gathers all the nations to himself
- and collects all the peoples as his own.
Woe to the Chaldeans
- 6 Will not all of these take up a taunt against him,
- speaking with mockery and derision:
- ‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his
- and makes himself rich with many loans!
- How long will this go on?’
- 7 Will not your creditors suddenly arise
- and those who disturb you awaken?
- Then you will become their prey.
- 8 Because you have plundered many nations,
- the remnant of the people will plunder you—
- because of your bloodshed against man
- and your violence against the land, the city,
- and all their dwellers.
- 9 Woe to him who builds his house
- by unjust gain,
- to place his nest on high
- and escape the hand of disaster!
- 10 You have plotted shame for your house
- by cutting off many peoples
- and forfeiting your life.[9]
- 11 For the stones will cry out from the wall,
- and the rafters will echo it from the woodwork.
- 12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
- and establishes a town by iniquity!
- 13 Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts
- that the labor of the people only feeds the fire,
- and the nations weary themselves in vain?
- 14 For the earth will be filled
- with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD
- as the waters cover the sea.
- 15 Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors,
- pouring it from the wineskin until they are drunk,
- in order to gaze at their nakedness!
- 16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
- You too must drink
- and expose your uncircumcision![10]
- The cup in the LORD’s right hand
- will come around to you,
- and utter disgrace will cover your glory.
- 17 For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you,
- and the destruction of animals will terrify you,
- because of your bloodshed against men
- and your violence against the land, the city,
- and all their dwellers.
- 18 What use is an idol,
- that a craftsman should carve it—
- or an image,
- a teacher of lies?
- For its maker trusts in his own creation;
- he makes idols that cannot speak.
- 19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’
- or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’
- Can it give guidance?
- Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
- yet there is no breath in it at all.”
- 20 But the LORD is in His holy temple;
- let all the earth be silent before Him.
Habakkuk’s Prayer
3 This is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth:[11]
- 2 O LORD, I have heard the report of You;
- I stand in awe, O LORD, of Your deeds.
- Revive them in these years;
- make them known in these years.
- In Your wrath, remember mercy!
- 3 God came from Teman,
- and the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Selah [12]
- His glory covered the heavens,
- and His praise filled the earth.
- 4 His radiance was like the sunlight;
- rays flashed from His hand,
- where His power is hidden.
- 5 Plague went before Him,
- and fever followed in His steps.
- 6 He stood and measured the earth;
- He looked and startled the nations;
- the ancient mountains crumbled;
- the perpetual hills collapsed.
- His ways are everlasting.
- 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress;
- the curtains of Midian were trembling.
- 8 Were You angry at the rivers, O LORD?
- Was Your wrath against the streams?
- Did You rage against the sea
- when You rode on Your horses,
- on Your chariots of salvation?
- 9 You brandished Your bow;
- You called for many arrows.
Selah
- You split the earth with rivers.
- 10 The mountains saw You and quaked;
- torrents of water swept by.
- The deep roared with its voice
- and lifted its hands on high.
- 11 Sun and moon stood still
- in their places
- at the flash of Your flying arrows,
- at the brightness of Your shining spear.
- 12 You marched across the earth with fury;
- You threshed the nations in wrath.
- 13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
- to save Your anointed.
- You crushed the head of the house of the wicked
- and stripped him from head to toe.
Selah
- 14 With his own spear You pierced his head,
- when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
- gloating as though ready
- to secretly devour the weak.
- 15 You trampled the sea with Your horses,
- churning the great waters.
- 16 I heard and trembled within;
- my lips quivered at the sound.
- Decay entered my bones;
- I trembled where I stood.
- Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress
- to come upon the people who invade us.
Habakkuk Rejoices
- 17 Though the fig tree does not bud
- and no fruit is on the vines,
- though the olive crop fails
- and the fields produce no food,
- though the sheep are cut off from the fold
- and no cattle are in the stalls,
- 18 yet I will exult in the LORD;
- I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!
- 19 GOD the Lord is my strength;
- He makes my feet like those of a deer;
- He makes me walk upon the heights!
For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.
Footnotes
[edit]- ↑ 1:5 LXX Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish!
- ↑ 1:5 Cited in Acts 13:41
- ↑ 1:6 That is, the Babylonians
- ↑ 1:15 Literally He pulls all of them up
- ↑ 2:3 Or Though He lingers, wait for Him, since He will surely come and will not delay; see also LXX; cited in Hebrews 10:37.
- ↑ 2:4 LXX If he should draw back, My soul has no pleasure in him
- ↑ 2:4 Or faithfulness; cited in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38
- ↑ 2:5 DSS; MT wine
- ↑ 2:10 Literally sinning against your soul
- ↑ 2:16 DSS, LXX, and Syriac and stagger
- ↑ 3:1 Shigionoth is probably a musical term indicating the setting for the prayer.
- ↑ 3:3 Selah or Interlude is probably a musical or literary term; also in verses 9 and 13.
Old Testament
New Testament