1Habakkuk's Complaint and the Chaldeans
📜 The old Bible words
💬 In today’s words
1The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
1The message of doom that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
2O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
2LORD, how long must I cry for help while you do not listen? I shout to you, "Violence!" yet 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 wrongdoing and force me to stare at misery? Destruction and violence are right in front of me; quarrels break out and fights keep rising.
4Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
4That is why the law has gone limp and justice never wins. The wicked hem in the righteous, and so justice comes out twisted.
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.
5"Look around at the nations and watch; be utterly astonished. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe 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 raising up the Chaldeans, that harsh and impulsive nation, who sweep across the whole width of the land to seize homes that do not belong to them.
7They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
7They are terrifying and dreadful; they make their own rules and decide their own honor.
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 are faster than leopards and fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their horsemen fan out; their riders come from far away, swooping in like an eagle diving for its meal.
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 bent on violence; their faces press forward like the east wind, and they scoop up captives like 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 and make fun of princes. They mock every fortress, for they simply pile up dirt against it and capture it.
11Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
11Then his mind shifts; he sweeps on past and becomes guilty, giving the credit for his power to his god."
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.
12Are you not from everlasting, LORD my God, my Holy One? We will not die. LORD, you have appointed them to carry out judgment; mighty God, you have 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 pure to look at evil; you cannot bear to watch wrongdoing. So why do you watch those who act treacherously, and why do you stay silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they are?
14And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
14Why do you make people like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler over them?
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 hauls them all up with a hook, catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet; so he celebrates and is glad.
16Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
16That is why he offers sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, because they bring him a rich share and plenty of food.
17Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
17Is he then going to keep emptying his net and go on killing nations without mercy?
2The Vision and the Five Woes
📜 The old Bible words
💬 In today’s words
1I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
1I will take my post at the watchtower and station myself on the ramparts. I will watch to see what he will say to me, and what answer I will give when I am corrected.
2And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
2Then the LORD answered me: "Write down the vision, and make it clear on tablets, so that anyone who reads it can run with it.
3For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
3For the vision waits for its appointed time; it speaks of the end, and it will not lie. Though it seems slow, wait for it, for it will surely come; it will not be late.
4Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
4Look at the proud man: his soul is not right within him. But the righteous person will live by his faith.
5Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
5What is more, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never stays at home. He opens his appetite as wide as the grave, and like death he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.
6Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!
6Won't all of these people mock him with a proverb and taunt him with a riddle? They will say, 'How terrible for the one who piles up what is not his! How long will this go on? And for the one who loads himself down with heavy clay!'
7Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
7Won't your creditors rise up all of a sudden? Won't they wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their plunder.
8Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
8Because you have plundered many nations, all the peoples who are left will plunder you, because of the human blood you shed and your violence against the land, the city, and everyone living in it.
9Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
9How terrible for the one who gets dishonest gain for his house, setting his nest up high to escape the reach of harm!
10Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.
10Your scheming has brought shame on your own house; by cutting off many peoples you have sinned against your own soul.
11For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
11For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the beams will answer from the woodwork.
12Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
12How terrible for the one who builds a town with bloodshed and founds a city on injustice!
13Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
13Look, is it not from the LORD of hosts that peoples work only to feed the fire, and nations wear themselves out for nothing?
14For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
15Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
15How terrible for the one who gives his neighbor drink, pouring out your wineskin until he is drunk, so you can stare at his naked body!
16Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
16You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now you drink, and expose your own nakedness! The cup in the LORD's right hand is coming around to you, and shameful vomit will cover your glory.
17For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
17For the violence you did to Lebanon will bury you, and the destruction of the animals that terrified them will crush you, because of the human blood you shed and your violence against the land, the city, and everyone living in it.
18What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
18What good is a carved idol, that its maker should carve it? Or a cast image, a teacher of lies, that its maker should trust in his own work and make speechless idols?
19Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
19How terrible for the one who says to a piece of wood, "Wake up!" or to a silent stone, "Get up!" Can it teach anything? Look, it is covered with gold and silver, but there is no breath at all inside it.
20But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
20But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
3Habakkuk's Prayer and God's Coming
📜 The old Bible words
💬 In today’s words
1A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.
1A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk, set to Shigionoth.
2O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
2LORD, I have heard what you said, and I was afraid. LORD, bring your work back to life in the middle of these years; in the middle of these years make it known. In your anger, remember mercy.
3God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
3God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
4And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
4His brightness was like the sunlight; rays flashed from his hand, and there his power lay hidden.
5Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.
5Plague went ahead of him, and burning coals blazed at his feet.
6He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.
6He stood and measured the earth; he looked and sent the nations flying. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills bowed down. His ways are everlasting.
7I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
7I saw the tents of Cushan in distress; the tent curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?
8Was the LORD angry with the rivers? Was your anger against the rivers, your fury against the sea, when you rode out on your horses and your chariots of salvation?
9Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
9You uncovered your bow completely, as you swore by your word to the tribes. Selah. You split the earth open with rivers.
10The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.
10The mountains saw you and trembled; the flood of water swept past. The deep roared out its voice and lifted its hands on high.
11The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
11The sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of your flying arrows, at the gleam of your glittering spear.
12Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.
12You marched across the land in fury; you trampled the nations in anger.
13Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
13You went out to rescue your people, to save them with your anointed one. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying it bare from foundation to neck. Selah.
14Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
14With his own spears you pierced the head of his villages when they stormed out like a whirlwind to scatter me, gloating as if to devour the helpless in secret.
15Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.
15You rode through the sea with your horses, through the churning of the mighty waters.
16When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.
16When I heard it, my body trembled; my lips quivered at the sound. Weakness crept into my bones, and I shook where I stood, so that I might rest in the day of trouble, when he comes up against the people to invade them with his troops.
17Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
17Even though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the flock is cut off from the pen and there are no cattle in the stalls,
18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
18yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will be glad in the God who saves me.
19The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
19The LORD God is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer and lets me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.