Habakkuk

The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

1This is the heavy message God showed to Habakkuk. Habakkuk was a prophet, a man who told people what God said.

Note"Burden" here does not mean a heavy load to carry. It means a serious message from God, often a warning.

2O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

2Habakkuk said: LORD, how long must I call for help? You do not seem to hear me. I cry out, "People are being hurt!" But you do not save.

3Why 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.

3Why do you make me look at so much wrong? Why do you let bad things go on? I see people breaking and hurting. Fights and arguments are everywhere.

4Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

4So the law does not work anymore. What is fair never happens. Bad people crowd around good people. So the judges decide things the wrong way.

5Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

5God answered: Look at the other nations. Watch closely, and be amazed. I am going to do something while you are alive. You would not believe it, even if someone told you.

6For, 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 theirs.

6Look, I am bringing up the Chaldeans. They are a harsh people who move fast. They march all across the land. They take homes that are not theirs.

NoteThe Chaldeans were the people of Babylon, a strong nation far to the east with a large army.

7They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

7People are scared of them. They make their own rules. They decide for themselves what is right.

8Their 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.

8Their horses run faster than leopards. They are meaner than wolves at night. Their riders come from far away and charge ahead. They swoop down like a big bird after food.

9They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

9They all come to hurt people. They rush in like a hot desert wind. They take away prisoners, as many as grains of sand.

10And 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.

10They laugh at kings. They make fun of rulers. They laugh at every strong, walled city. They pile up dirt into ramps and climb in.

11Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.

11Then they sweep past like the wind and keep going. But they are guilty. Their own strength is the god they trust.

12Art 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.

12Habakkuk said: LORD my God, my Holy One, you have always been alive. We will not die. LORD, you picked these people to punish us. My Rock, you set them up to correct us.

13Thou 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?

13Your eyes are too clean to look at evil. You cannot stand to watch people do wrong. So why do you watch people who cheat and lie? Why are you quiet while bad people swallow up better people?

14And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

14You have made people like fish in the sea. You have made them like small crawling animals with no leader.

15They 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.

15The enemy pulls them all up with a hook. He catches them in his big net. He drags them in. Then he is happy and glad.

16Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.

16So he gives gifts to his net. He burns incense to it. He does this because his net brings him a rich share and plenty of food.

NoteIncense is a sweet-smelling stuff people burn so the smoke rises. Burning it was a way of worshiping. This man is worshiping his own fishing net.

17Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

17Will he keep on emptying his net to fill it again? Will he go on killing nations and never show mercy?