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This is the vision with which the prophet Habakkuk was burdened.

How long must I cry, O Eternal One,
    and get no answer from You?
Even when I yell to You, “Violence is all around!”
    You do nothing to save those in distress.
Why do You force me to see these atrocities?
    Why do You make me watch such wickedness?
Disaster and violence, conflict and controversy are raging all around me.
Your law is powerless to stop this; injustice prevails.
    The depraved surround the innocent, and justice is perverted.

Eternal One: Take a look at the nations and watch what happens!
        You will be shocked and amazed.
    For in your days, I am doing a work,
        a work you will never believe even if someone tells you plainly![a]
    Look! I am provoking and raising up the bitter and thieving Babylonian warriors from Chaldea;
        they are moving out across the earth
    And seizing others’ homes and property in their path.

Chaldea is an area along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southernmost Babylon.

That nation is terrifying people, is feared by everyone.
    It makes the rules and serves only its own interests.
Babylonia’s horses run faster than leopards,
    are fiercer than wolves when the sun goes down.
Its horsemen rush ahead with deadly force, galloping great distances;
    the troops swoop down like eagles ready to devour,
And Babylonia keeps on coming, hungry for violence.
    Hordes of determined faces are on the move like a hot east wind,
Scooping up captives like sand.
10 Their leader mocks kings and ridicules those in authority.
    He laughs at every fortress
And builds ramps of dirt against their walls to capture it.
11 He blows through like the wind and then presses on to the next attack.
    For their king, his god is his strength, but he will be held responsible.

12 Have You not existed from ancient times, O Eternal One, my holy God?
    Surely You do not plan for us to die.
You, O Eternal One, have made Babylonia Your tool for judgment.
    You, O Rock, have established that king as Your instrument of correction.
13 Your eyes are too pure to even look at evil.
    You cannot turn Your face toward injustice.
So why do You stand by and watch those who act treacherously?
    Why do You say and do nothing
When the wicked swallows up one who is more in the right than he is?
14 You made humans like fish in the sea,
    like creatures under no rule or authority.

The Chaldeans were known for their fishing, in addition to their brutality.

15 But the Babylonian yanks up his enemies with a hook,
    dragging them away with his net.
Gathering them up like fish in a net,
    the king shrieks and shouts for joy at his catch.
16 So he offers a sacrifice to his net that has made him rich;
    the smoke of his sacrifices rises for his fishing net that has brought him success;
Because of it, his table is full and his belly is fat.
17 Will he empty and fill his net without end?
    Will he continue to murder the people of the world without pity?

Footnotes

  1. 1:5 Acts 13:41

The prophecy(A) that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

How long,(B) Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?(C)
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you do not save?(D)
Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate(E) wrongdoing?(F)
Destruction and violence(G) are before me;
    there is strife,(H) and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law(I) is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice(J) is perverted.(K)

The Lord’s Answer

“Look at the nations and watch—
    and be utterly amazed.(L)
For I am going to do something in your days
    that you would not believe,
    even if you were told.(M)
I am raising up the Babylonians,[a](N)
    that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth(O)
    to seize dwellings not their own.(P)
They are a feared and dreaded people;(Q)
    they are a law to themselves
    and promote their own honor.
Their horses are swifter(R) than leopards,
    fiercer than wolves(S) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
    their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
    they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes[b] advance like a desert wind
    and gather prisoners(T) like sand.
10 They mock kings
    and scoff at rulers.(U)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
    by building earthen ramps(V) they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind(W) and go on—
    guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”(X)

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?(Y)
    My God, my Holy One,(Z) you[c] will never die.(AA)
You, Lord, have appointed(AB) them to execute judgment;
    you, my Rock,(AC) have ordained them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pure(AD) to look on evil;
    you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.(AE)
Why then do you tolerate(AF) the treacherous?(AG)
    Why are you silent while the wicked
    swallow up those more righteous than themselves?(AH)
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
    like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The wicked(AI) foe pulls all of them up with hooks,(AJ)
    he catches them in his net,(AK)
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
    and so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and burns incense(AL) to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
    and enjoys the choicest food.
17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
    destroying nations without mercy?(AM)

Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
  2. Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  3. Habakkuk 1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we