1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
1 The oracle of God which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
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!
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and thou wilt not hear? Or cry to thee "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.
3 Why dost thou make me see wrongs and look upon trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
4 So the law is slacked and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted.
5 Behold 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].
5 Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
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 theirs.
6 For lo, I am rousing the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize habitations not their own.
7 They [are] terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
7 Dread and terrible are they; their justice and dignity proceed from 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.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Yea, their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
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.
9 They all come for violence; terror of them goes before them. They gather captives like 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.
10 At kings they scoff, and of rulers they make sport. They laugh at every fortress, for they heap up earth and take it.
11 Then shall [his] mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, [imputing] this his power unto his god.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their 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.
12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them as a judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast established them for chastisement.
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?
13 Thou who art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on wrong, why dost thou look on faithless men, and art silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, [that have] no ruler over them?
14 For thou makest men like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler.
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.
15 He brings all of them up with a hook, he drags them out with his net, he gathers them in his seine; so he rejoices and exults.
16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion [is] fat, and their meat plenteous.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his seine; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich.
17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net, and mercilessly slaying nations for ever?