Rotherham - Habakkuk

Chapter 1

1:1  The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision:

1:2  How long, O Yahweh, have I called out, and thou wouldst not hear me? Have I kept crying unto thee of violence, and thou wouldst not save?

1:3  Wherefore shouldst thou let me see iniquity, and, wrong, shouldst let me behold, and, force and violence, be straight before me,—and there should have ever been someone who, contention and strife, would uphold?

1:4  For which cause, benumbed is the law, and there is never any going forth of justice,—for, the lawless, doth circumvent the righteous, for which cause, justice doth go forth perverted?

1:5  Behold ye, among the nations, and look around, Yea stand stock still—stare,—for, a work, is being wrought in your days, ye will not believe, when it is recounted.

1:6  For, behold me! raising up the Chaldeans, the bitter and headlong nation,—that marcheth to the breadths of the earth, to take possession of habitations, not his.

1:7  Awful and fearful, is he,—from himself, his decision and his uprising, proceed.

1:8  Then, swifter than leopards, are his horses, and, more sharply they attack, than evening wolves, and forward have leapt his chargers,—Yea, his chargers, from afar, will come in, they will fly as an eagle hath hastened to devour.

1:9  Solely for violence, will he come, the intent of their faces, is—To the east! And he hath gathered, as the sand, a captive host;

1:10  And, he, over kings, will make merry, and, nobles, will be a scorn to him: he, at any fortress, will laugh, once he hath heaped up dust, he hath captured it!

1:11  Then, hath he become arrogant in spirit, and hath committed excess, and so is guilty,—this his violence, is due to his god.

1:12  Art not, thou, from of old, O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One? Thou diest not! O Yahweh, to judgment, hast thou appointed him, and, O Rock, to correction, hast thou devoted him:

1:13  [Thou] whose eyes are too pure to look with approval on wrong, to respect oppression, canst not endure,—Wherefore, shouldst thou respect the treacherous? Be silent, when the lawless, swalloweth up, one more righteous than he?

1:14  So wouldst thou have made Men, like the fishes of the sea,—like the creeping thing that hath no ruler over it:

1:15  All of which, with a hook, one bringeth up, raketh together with his drag, and hath gathered with his net,—

1:16  On which account, he is glad and exulteth: on which account, he sacrificeth to his Net, and burneth incense to his Drag; because, thereby, rich, is his portion, and his food—fatness!

1:17  Shall he, on this account, empty his net? And, the continual slaying of nations, deem to be no pity?

Chapter 2

2:1  Upon my watch-tower, will I stand, and will station myself upon the bulwark,—so will I keep outlook, to see—what he will speak with me, and what I shall reply, when I am reproved.

2:2  Then Yahweh answered me, and said, Write the vision, Yea, make it plain on tablets, that one may swiftly read it;

2:3  For yet is the vision for an appointed time, still, it presseth towards an end, and will not deceive,—if it tarry, wait thou for it, for it, surely cometh,—will not be too late.

2:4  Lo! as for the conceited one, crooked is his soul within him,- but, one who is righteous, by his faithfulness, shall live.

2:5  Moreover also, when wine betrayeth, a man, is arrogant, and findeth no rest,—because he hath enlarged, like hades, his desire, yea, he, is like death, and cannot be satisfied,—but hath gathered unto himself, all the nations, and assembled unto himself, all the peoples.

2:6  Shall not, these, all of them, against him, take up—a taunt, a mocking poem, enigmatical sentences—concerning him? And say—Alas! for him who maketh abundance in what is not his own, How long? that he should be burdening himself with heavy debts?

2:7  Will not thy creditors, suddenly rise up? and they who shall violently shake thee, all at once become active? Then shalt thou serve for booties, unto them!

2:8  Because, thou, hast plundered many nations, all the residue of the peoples, shall plunder thee,—for shedding Human blood, and doing violence to the earth, to the city, and to all who dwell therein.

2:9  Alas! for him who extorteth an extortion of wrong for his own house,—that he may set on high his nest, that he may be delivered from the grasp of calamity.

2:10  Thou hast counseled shame to thy house—making an end of many peoples, and endangering thine own life.

2:11  Surely, the stone out of the wall, will make outcry,—and, the tie out of the timber, will answer it.

2:12  Alas! for him who buildeth a city with deeds of blood,—and establisheth a town with perversity.

2:13  Lo! is it not from Yahweh of hosts—that peoples labour for fire, and, populations, for emptiness, weary themselves?

2:14  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh,—as, the waters, cover the sea.

2:15  Alas! for him who causeth his neighbour to drink, from the goblet of thy fury, and also, making him drunk,—to the end thou mayest gloat over their parts of shame.

2:16  Thou art sated with contempt, more than glory, drink, thou too, and expose thy person,—the cup of the right hand of Yahweh, shall come round unto thee, and ignominious filth be upon thy glory;

2:17  For, the violence [done] to Lebanon, shall cover thee, and wasting by wild beasts shall cause them terror,—for shedding Human blood, and doing violence to the earth, to the city, and to all who dwell therein.

2:18  What hath a carved image, profited, though the fashioner thereof, carved it? a molten image, and a teacher of falsehood,—though the fashioner of his fashioned thing trusted therein? that men should make Dumb Nonentities!

2:19  Alas! for him who saith to wood, Awake, bestir thee! to a silent stone, he, shall teach! Though he is overlaid with gold and silver, yet, no spirit whatsoever, is in him!

2:20  Howbeit, Yahweh, is in his holy temple,—Hush before him, all the earth.

Chapter 3

3:1  A prayer by Habakkuk the prophet,—in the manner of an Ode.

3:2  O Yahweh, I have heard tidings of thee, I am afraid. O Yahweh! Thy work—in the midst of the years, O revive it, in the midst of the years, wilt thou make known? In trouble, wilt thou remember, compassion?

3:3  GOD, from Teman, cometh in, and, the Holy One, from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendour, hath covered the heavens, and, his praise, hath filled the earth:

3:4  And, a brightness, as light, appeareth, Rays, out of his hand, hath he,—and, there, is the hiding of his power.

3:5  Before him, marcheth pestilence,—and fever, goeth forth, at his feet:

3:6  He hath stood and measured the earth, he hath looked, and caused nations to tremble, and, scattered as dust, are the perpetual mountains, and, sunk, are the age-abiding hills,—Forthgoings age-abiding, are his.

3:7  Under distress, saw I the tents of Ethiopia,—tremble, do the curtains of the land of Midian.

3:8  Against the rivers, is Yahweh wroth? Against the rivers, is thine anger? Against the sea, is thine indignation? For thou wilt ride on Thy horses, Thy chariots, [shall be] salvation!

3:9  To nakedness, is bared thy bow, oaths of chastisement—song! Selah. With rivers, thou dost cleave open the land.

3:10  The mountains, have seen thee—they tremble, a downpour of waters, hath passed along,—the roaring deep, hath given forth, his voice, on high—his hand, hath he uplifted.

3:11  Sun, moon, have stood still, on high,—like light, thine arrows, speed along, like brightness, is the flash of thy spear.

3:12  In wrath, dost thou stride through the land,—in anger, dost thou thresh the nations.

3:13  Thou hast come forth to the salvation of thy people, to salvation, with thine Anointed One,—Thou hast crushed the Head out of the house of the lawless one, baring the foundation up to the neck, Selah.

3:14  Thou hast pierced, with his own staves, the head of his chiefs, they storm along, to scatter me,—their exultant thought, is, in very deed, to devour the oppressed one, in a secret place!

3:15  Thou hast driven, into the sea, thy chariot-horses. Foaming are the mighty waters!

3:16  I heard, and I trembled within me, at the voice, my lips, quivered, decay, entered, my bones, and, in my limbs, I trembled,—though I am to find rest, in the day of distress, when their invader, cometh up against the people.

3:17  Though, the fig-tree, should not blossom, and there be no sprouting in the vines, the yield of the olive, should have deceived, and, the fields, not have brought forth food,—the flock, have been consumed out of the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls,

3:18  Yet, I, in Yahweh, will rejoice,—I will exult in the God of my salvation.

3:19  Yahweh, My Lord, is my strength, therefore hath he made my feet like hinds, and, upon my high places, will he cause me to march along. To the chief musician, on my double harp.