Category: Habakkuk

1 The oraclethat Habakkuk the prophet saw.

Habakkuk’s First Prayer

2 How long,Lord, must I call for help

and You do not listen

or cry out to You about violence

and You do not save?

3 Why do You force me to look at injustice?

Why do You toleratewrongdoing?

Oppression and violence are right in front of me.

Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

4 This is why the law is ineffective

and justice never emerges.

For the wicked restrictthe righteous;

therefore, justicecomes out perverted.

God’s First Answer

5 Look at the nationsand observe—

be utterly astounded!

For something is taking place in your days

that you will not believe

when you hear about it.

6 Look! I am raising upthe Chaldeans,

that bitter,impetuous nation

that marches across the earth’s open spaces

to seize territories not its own.

7 They are fierceand terrifying;

their views of justice and sovereignty

stem from themselves.

8 Their horses are swifterthan leopards

and more fiercethan wolves of the night.

Their horsemen charge ahead;

their horsemen come from distant lands.

They fly like an eagle, swooping to devour.

9 All of them come to do violence;

their facesare set in determination.

They gatherprisoners like sand.

10 They mockkings,

and rulers are a joke to them.

They laughat every fortress

and build siege ramps to captureit.

11 Then they sweepby like the wind

and pass through.

They are guilty;their strength is their god.

Habakkuk’s Second Prayer

12 Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God?

My Holy One,Youwill not die.

Lord, You appointed them to execute judgment;

my Rock,You destined them to punish us.

13 Your eyesare too pureto look on evil,

and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous?

Why are You silent

while onewho is wicked swallows up

onewho is more righteous than himself?

14 You have made mankind

like the fish of the sea,

like marine creatures that have no ruler.

15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,

catch them in their dragnet,

and gather them in their fishing net;

that is why they are glad and rejoice.

16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet

and burn incense to their fishing net,

for by these things their portion is rich

and their food plentiful.

17 Will they therefore empty their net

and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/HAB/1-cb8bb8ac187083726b3f309b99f25590.mp3?version_id=72—

Habakkuk Waits for God’s Response

1 I will stand at my guard post

and station myself on the lookout tower.

I will watch to see what He will say to me

and what I shouldreply about my complaint.

God’s Second Answer

2 TheLordanswered me:

Write down this vision;

clearly inscribe it on tablets

so one may easily read it.

3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time;

it testifies about the end and will not lie.

Though it delays, wait for it,

since it will certainly come and not be late.

4 Look, his ego is inflated;

he is without integrity.

But the righteous one will live by his faith.

5 Moreover, winebetrays;

an arrogant man is never at rest.

He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,

and like Death he is never satisfied.

He gathers all the nations to himself;

he collects all the peoples for himself.

The Five Woe Oracles

6 Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,

with mockery and riddles about him?

They will say:

Woe to him who amasses what is not his —

how much longer?—

and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.

7 Won’t your creditors suddenly arise,

and those who disturb you wake up?

Then you will become spoil for them.

8 Since you have plundered many nations,

all the peoples who remain will plunder you—

because of human bloodshed

and violenceagainst lands, cities,

and all who live in them.

9 Woe to him who dishonestly makes

wealth for his house

to place his nest on high,

to escape from the reach of disaster!

10 You have planned shame for your house

by wiping out many peoples

and sinning against your own self.

11 For the stones will cry outfrom the wall,

and the rafters will answer them

from the woodwork.

12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed

and founds a town with injustice!

13 Is it not from theLordof Hosts

that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire

and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?

14 For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of theLord’s glory,

as the waters cover the sea.

15 Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,

pouring out your wrath

and even making them drunk,

in order to look at their nakedness!

16 You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.

You also — drink,

and expose your uncircumcision!

The cup in theLord’s right hand

will come around to you,

and utter disgrace will cover your glory.

17 For your violence against Lebanon

will overwhelm you;

the destruction of animals will terrify you

because of your human bloodshed and violence

against lands, cities, and all who live in them.

18 What use is a carved idol

after its craftsman carves it?

It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.

For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it

and makes idols that cannot speak.

19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!

or to mute stone: Come alive!

Can it teach?

Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,

yet there is no breathin it at all.

20 But theLordis in His holy temple;

let everyone on earth

be silent in His presence.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/HAB/2-98d64f8f08507c6bcea4536a38ebc952.mp3?version_id=72—

Habakkuk’s Third Prayer

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. According toShigionoth.

2 Lord, I have heard the report about You;

Lord, I stand in awe of Your deeds.

Revive Your work in these years;

make it known in these years.

In Your wrath remember mercy!

3 God comes from Teman,

the Holy One from Mount Paran.Selah

His splendor covers the heavens,

and the earth is full of His praise.

4 His brilliance is like light;

rays are flashing from His hand.

This is where His power is hidden.

5 Plague goes before Him,

and pestilence follows in His steps.

6 He stands and shakesthe earth;

He looks and startles the nations.

The age-old mountains break apart;

the ancient hills sink down.

His pathways are ancient.

7 I see the tents of Cushanin distress;

the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.

8 Are You angry at the rivers,Lord?

Is Your wrath against the rivers?

Or is Your rage against the sea

when You ride on Your horses,

Your victorious chariot?

9 You took the sheath from Your bow;

the arrows are readyto be used with an oath.Selah

You split the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains see You and shudder;

a downpour of water sweeps by.

The deep roars with its voice

and lifts its waveshigh.

11 Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence,

at the flash of Your flying arrows,

at the brightness of Your shining spear.

12 You march across the earth with indignation;

You trample down the nations in wrath.

13 You come out to save Your people,

to save Your anointed.

You crush the leader of the house of the wicked

and strip him from footto neck.Selah

14 You pierce his head

with his own spears;

his warriors storm out to scatter us,

gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.

15 You tread the sea with Your horses,

stirring up the great waters.

Habakkuk’s Confidence in God Expressed

16 I heard, and I trembled within;

my lips quivered at the sound.

Rottenness entered my bones;

I trembled where I stood.

Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress

to come against the people invading us.

17 Though the fig tree does not bud

and there is no fruit on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

18 yet I will triumph in Yahweh;

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

19 Yahweh my Lord is my strength;

He makes my feet like those of a deer

and enables me to walk on mountain heights!

For the choir director: on stringed instruments.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/HAB/3-787d671a418fbb8344b67f7cfb2b11f4.mp3?version_id=72—