Noyes - Habakkuk - 1

1:1  The prophecy which was revealed to the prophet Habakkuk.

1:2  How long, O Jehovah, do I cry, and thou dost not hear! How long do I complain to thee of violence, and thou dost not save!

1:3  Why dost thou suffer me to see iniquity, And why dost thou look upon wickedness? For spoiling and violence are before me; There is contention, and strife exalteth itself.

1:4  Therefore the law faileth, And judgment is not pronounced according to truth; For the wicked encompasseth the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment is pronounced.

1:5  Behold ye among the nations, and look! Yea, wonder, and be astonished! For I do a work in your days Which ye will not believe though it be told you.

1:6  For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, A fierce and swift people, Which go over the breadth of the earth, To take possession of dwelling-places that are not their own.

1:7  They are terrible and dreadful; From themselves go forth their law and their dignity.

1:8  Their horses are swifter than leopards, And fiercer than evening wolves. Their horsemen leap proudly; Their horsemen come from far; They fly like an eagle, hastening to devour.

1:9  All of them come for violence; The multitude of their faces is directed forwards, And they gather captives as sand.

1:10  They also scoff at kings, And princes are to them a laughing-stock; They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earth and take it.

1:11  Then their spirit is uplifted, and they transgress, and become guilty; This their strength is made their god.

1:12  Art thou not from everlasting, O Jehovah, my God, my Holy One? We shall not die! Thou, O Jehovah, hast appointed them for judgment; Thou, O Rock, hast ordained them for chastisement.

1:13  Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, And canst not look on wickedness; Why then dost thou look on transgressors, And art silent, when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he?

1:14  And why makest thou men as the fishes of the sea, As the reptiles that have no ruler?

1:15  They take up all of them with the hook, They catch them in their net, And gather them in their drag; Therefore they rejoice and exult.

1:16  Therefore they sacrifice to their net, And burn incense to their drag; Because by them their portion is fat, And their food plenteous.

1:17  Shall they therefore empty the net, And slay the nations continually without mercy?