| Chapter 1 |
| 1 | The burden which Habakkuk the
prophet did see. |
|
2 | O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not
hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! |
| 3 |
Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling
and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and
contention. |
| 4
| Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go
forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong
judgment proceedeth. |
| 5 | Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and
wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not
believe, though it be told you. |
| 6 | For, lo, I raise up the
Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth
of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not their's. |
| 7 |
They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed
of themselves. |
|
8 | Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and
are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread
themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle
that hasteth to eat. |
| 9 | They shall come all for violence: their faces
shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the
sand. |
| 10 |
And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a
scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust,
and take it. |
|
11 | Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over,
and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. |
| 12 | Art thou not
from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou
hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them
for correction. |
|
13 | Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and
canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal
treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is
more righteous than he? |
| 14 | And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as
the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? |
| 15 | They take up
all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in
their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. |
| 16 | Therefore
they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by
them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. |
| 17 | Shall they
therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations? |
