The Book of

Habakkuk

1

1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. 2 Jehovah, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee, Violence! and thou dost not save. 3 Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest thou upon grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up. 4 Therefore the law is powerless, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked encompasseth the righteous; therefore judgment goeth forth perverted. 5 See ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for [ I] work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be declared [ to you]. 6 For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, which marcheth through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs. 7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. 8 And their horses are swifter than the leopards, and are more agile than the evening wolves; and their horsemen prance proudly, and their horsemen come from afar: they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour. 9 They come all of them for violence: the crowd of their faces is forwards, and they gather captives as the sand. 10 Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a scorn unto him; he derideth every stronghold: for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it. 11 Then will his mind change, and he will pass on, and become guilty: this his power is become his+ 1.11 Eloah god. 12 — Art thou not from everlasting, Jehovah my° 1.12 Elohim God, my Holy One? We shall not die. Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast appointed him for correction. 13 [Thou art] of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on mischief: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, [ and] keepest silence when the wicked swalloweth up a [ man] more righteous than he? 14 And thou makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them. 15 He taketh up all of them with the hook, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them into his drag; therefore he rejoiceth and is glad: 16 therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; for by them his portion is become fat, and his meat dainty. 17 Shall he therefore empty his net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?

2

1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will look forth to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer as to my reproof. 2 And Jehovah answered me and said, Write the vision, and engrave it upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but it hasteth to the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; for it will surely come, it will not delay. 4 Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright within him: but the just shall live by his faith. 5 And moreover, the wine is treacherous: he is a proud man, and keepeth not at rest, he enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is like death and cannot be satisfied; and he assembleth unto him all nations, and gathereth unto him all peoples. 6 Shall not all these take up a proverb about him, and a taunting riddle against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? — and to him that loadeth himself with pledges! 7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and they awake up that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? 8 Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the rest of the peoples shall plunder thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence [ done] to the land, to the city, and all that dwell therein. 9 Woe to him that getteth iniquitous gain to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the grasp of evil! 10 Thou hast devised shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thine own soul. 11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. 12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by unrighteousness! 13 Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain? 14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea. 15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, — that pourest out thy flask, and makest [ him] drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! 16 Thou art filled with shame instead of glory; drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of Jehovah’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and a shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. 17 For the violence [ done] to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of beasts which made them afraid; because of men’s blood, and for the violence [ done] to the land, to the city, and all that dwell therein. 18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it? the molten image, and the teacher of falsehood, that the maker of his work dependeth thereon, to make dumb idols? 19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall it teach? Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. 20 But Jehovah is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him!

3

1 A Prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. 2 Jehovah, I heard the report of thee, [ and] I feared. Jehovah, revive thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make [ it] known: In wrath remember mercy! 3+ 3.3 Eloah God came from Teman, And the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covereth the heavens, And the earth is full of his praise. 4 And [ his] brightness was as the light; Rays [ came forth] from his hand; And there was the hiding of his power. 5 Before him went the pestilence, And a burning flame went forth at his feet. 6 He stood, and measured the earth; He beheld, and discomfited the nations; And the eternal mountains were scattered, The everlasting hills gave way: His ways are everlasting. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 8 Was Jehovah wrathful with the rivers? Was thine anger against the rivers? Was thy rage against the sea, That thou didst ride upon thy horses, Thy chariots of salvation? 9 Thy bow was made naked, The rods [ of discipline] sworn according to [thy] word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. 10 The mountains saw thee, they were in travail: Torrents of waters passed by; The deep uttered its voice, Lifted up its hands on high. 11 The sun [ and] moon stood still in their habitation, At the light of thine arrows which shot forth, — At the shining of thy glittering spear. 12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, Thou didst thresh the nations in anger. 13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed; Thou didst smite off the head from the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation even to the neck. Selah. 14 Thou didst strike through with his own spears the head of his leaders: They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me, Whose exulting was as to devour the afflicted secretly. 15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thy horses, The heap of great waters. 16 I heard, and my belly trembled; My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in my place, That I might rest in the day of distress, When their invader shall come up against the people. 17 For though the fig-tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive-tree shall fail, And the fields shall yield no food; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the° 3.18 Elohim God of my salvation. 19 Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength, And he maketh my feet like hinds’ [ feet], And he will make me to walk upon my high places. To the chief Musician. On my stringed instruments.