12: Are you not from of old, O Lord my God, my
Holy One? You shall
not die. O Lord, you have marked them for judgment; and you, O Rock, have
established them for punishment.
13: Your eyes are too pure to behold evil, and
you cannot look on wrongdoing; why do you look on the treacherous, and are
silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they?
14: You have made people like the fish of the
sea, like crawling things that have no ruler.
15: The enemy brings all of them up
with a hook; he drags them out with his net, he gathers them in his seine; so
he rejoices and exults.
16: Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his seine; for by them his portion is lavish, and his
food is rich.
17: Is he then to keep on emptying his
net, and destroying nations without mercy?
Chapter
2
The LORD's Answer to Habakkuk
1: I will stand at my
watch-post, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he
will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
2: Then the Lord
answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a
runner may read it.
3: For there is still a
vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it
seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.
4: Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith.
5:Moreover, wealth is
treacherous; the arrogant do not endure. They open their throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough. They gather all nations for themselves, and
collect all peoples as their own.
Woes on the Unrighteous
6: Shall not everyone
taunt such people and, with mocking riddles, say about them, "Alas for you
who heap up what is not your own!" How long will you load yourselves with
goods taken in pledge?
7: Will not your own
creditors suddenly rise, and those who make you tremble wake up? Then you will
be booty for them.
8: Because you have
plundered many nations, all that survive of the peoples shall plunder you-
because of human bloodshed, and violence to the earth, to cities and all who
live in them.
9:
“Alas for you who get evil gain for your houses, setting your nest on high
to be safe from the reach of harm!”
10: You have devised
shame for your house by cutting off many peoples; you have forfeited your life.
11: The very stones will
cry out from the wall, and the plaster will respond from the woodwork.
12: "Alas for you
who build a town by bloodshed, and found a city on iniquity!"
13: Is it not from the
Lord of hosts that peoples labor only to feed the flames, and nations weary
themselves for nothing?
14: But the earth will be
filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea.
15: "Alas for you
who make your neighbors drink, pouring out your wrath until they are drunk, in
order to gaze on their nakedness!"
16: You will be sated
with contempt instead of glory. Drink, you yourself, and stagger! The cup in
the Lord's right hand will come around to you, and shame will come upon your
glory!
17: For the
violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you; the destruction of the animals
will terrify you- because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth, to
cities and all who live in them.
18: What use is an
idol once its maker has shaped it- a cast image, a teacher of lies? For its
maker trusts in what has been made, though the product is only an idol that
cannot speak!
19: Alas for you
who say to the wood, "Wake up!" to silent stone, "Rouse
yourself!" Can it teach? See, it is gold and silver plated, and there is
no breath in it at all.
20: But the Lord is in
his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him!
Chapter
3
Habakkuk's Prayer
1: A prayer of the
prophet Habakkuk according to Shigionoth.
2: O Lord, I have
heard of your renown, and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work. In our own time
revive it; in our own time make it known; in wrath may you remember mercy.
3: God came from
Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the
heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
4: The brightness
was like the sun; rays came forth from his hand, where his power lay hidden.
5: Before him went
pestilence, and plague followed close behind.
6: He stopped and
shook the earth; he looked and made the nations tremble. The eternal mountains
were shattered; along his ancient pathways the everlasting hills sank low.
7: I saw the tents
of Cushan under affliction; the tent-curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8: Was your wrath
against the rivers, O Lord? Or your anger against the rivers, or your rage
against the sea, when you drove your horses, your chariots to victory?
9: You brandished
your naked bow, sated were the arrows at your command. Selah You
split the earth with rivers.
10: The mountains
saw you, and writhed; a torrent of water swept by; the deep gave forth its
voice. The sun raised high its hands;
11: the moon stood still
in its exalted place, at the light of your arrows speeding by, at the gleam of
your flashing spear.
12: In fury you
trod the earth, in anger you trampled nations.
13: You came forth
to save your people, to save your anointed. You crushed the head of the wicked
house, laying it bare from foundation to roof. Selah
14: You pierced
with their own arrows the head of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to
scatter us, gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding.
15: You trampled
the sea with your horses, churning the mighty waters.
16: I hear, and I
tremble within; my lips quiver at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones,
and my steps tremble beneath me. I wait quietly for the day of calamity to come
upon the people who attack us.
17: Though the fig
tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the
olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the
fold, and there is no herd in the stalls,
18: yet I will
rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation.
19: God, the Lord,
is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread
upon the heights. To the leader: with stringed instruments.
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