AB - Habakkuk - 1

1:1  The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.

1:2  How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and You will not hear? How long shall I cry out to You being injured, and You will not save?

1:3  Why have You shown me troubles and grievances to look upon, misery and ungodliness? Judgment is before me, and the judge receives a reward.

1:4  Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgment never goes forth, for the ungodly man prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgment will proceed.

1:5  Behold, you despisers, and look, and wonder marvelously, and vanish: for I work a work in your days which you will by no means believe, though a man declare it to you.

1:6  Wherefore, behold, I stir up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that walks upon the breadth of the earth, to inherit tabernacles not his own.

1:7  He is terrible and infamous; his judgment shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of himself.

1:8  And his horses shall bound more swiftly than leopards, and they are fiercer than the wolves of Arabia: and his horsemen shall ride forth, and shall rush from far; and they shall fly as an eagle that hastens to eat.

1:9  Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand.

1:10  And he shall be at his ease with kings, and princes are his toys, and he shall mock at every stronghold, and shall cast a mound, and take possession of it.

1:11  Then shall he change his spirit, and he shall pass through, and make an atonement, saying, This strength belongs to my God.

1:12  Are You not from everlasting, O Lord God, my Holy One? And surely we shall not die. O Lord, You have established it for judgment, and He has formed me to chasten with His correction.

1:13  His eye is too pure to behold evil doings, and to look upon grievous afflictions: why do You look upon despisers? Will You be silent when the ungodly swallows up the just?

1:14  And will You make men as the fish in the sea, and as the reptiles which have no guide?

1:15  He has brought up destruction with a hook, and drawn one with a casting net, and caught another in his drags: therefore shall his heart rejoice and be glad.

1:16  Therefore will he sacrifice to his drag, and burn incense to his casting net, because by them he has made his portion fat, and his meats choice.

1:17  Therefore will he cast his net, and will not spare to slay the nations continually.