Habakkuk 1 — Legacy Standard Bible

Habakkuk Calls for Help

1The ¹^,^aoracle which Habakkuk the prophet beheld.

²^aHow long, O ¹Yahweh, will I call for help,And You will not hear?I cry out to You, “Violence!”Yet You do ^bnot save.³Why do You make me ^asee wickednessAnd cause me to look on trouble?Indeed, ^bdevastation and violence are before me;^cAnd there is strife, and contention is lifted up.⁴Therefore the ^alaw is ¹ignored,And justice never comes forth.For the wicked ^bsurround the righteous;Therefore justice comes forth ^cperverted.

Yahweh Raises the Dreaded Chaldeans

⁵“^aSee among the nations! And look!Be also astonished! ^bBe astounded!Because I am doing ^csomething in your days—You would not believe if it was recounted to you.⁶“For behold, I am ^araising up the Chaldeans,That bitter and hasty nationWho walks on the breadth of the landTo ^bpossess dwelling places which are not theirs.⁷“They are dreaded and ^afeared;Their ^bjustice and exaltation come forth from themselves.⁸“Their ^ahorses are swifter than leopardsAnd ¹sharper than ^bwolves in the evening.Their ²horsemen come galloping;Their horsemen come from afar;They fly like an ^ceagle swooping down to devour.⁹“All of them come for violence.¹Their horde of ^afaces moves forward.And they gather captives like sand.¹⁰“And they ^amock at kings,And rulers are a laughing matter to them.They ^blaugh at every fortressAnd ^cheap up dirt and capture it.¹¹“Then they will sweep through like the ^awind and pass on.But they will be held ^bguilty,They whose ^cpower is their god.”

Yahweh Has Placed Them to Judge

¹²Are You not from ^aeverlasting,O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One?We will not die.You, O Yahweh, have ^bplaced them to judge;And You, O ^cRock, have established them to reprove.¹³Your eyes are too ^apure to see evil,And You cannot look on trouble.Why do You ^blookOn those who deal ^ctreacherously?Why are You ^dsilent when the wicked ^eswallow upThose more righteous than they?¹⁴And You have made men like the fish of the sea,Like creeping things without a ruler over them.¹⁵The Chaldeans ^abring all of them up with a hook,^bDrag them away with their net,And gather them together in their fishing net.Therefore they are glad and rejoice.¹⁶Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their netAnd ¹burn incense to their fishing netBecause through ^athese things their portion is richAnd their food is fat.¹⁷Will they therefore empty their ^anetAnd continually ^bkill nations without sparing?