Habakkuk Chapter 1 The Burden
Which Habakkuk the Prophet Did See O LORD, how long shall I
cry, and thou wilt not hear, even cry out unto thee of violence,
and thou wilt not save? Why dost thou show me iniquity,
and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are
before me, and there are that raise up strife and contention.
Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth,
for the wicked doth compass about the righteous, therefore wrong
judgment proceedeth. 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. For lo,
I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which
shall march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling-places
that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful.
Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
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. They shall come all for
violence, their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they
shall gather the captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff
at the kings, and the princes shall be scorned unto them. They
shall deride every stronghold, for they shall heap dust and
take it. Then shall his mind change, and
he shall pass over and offend, imputing this his power unto
his God. 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. 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, and
makest men as the fishers of the sea, as the creeping things
that have no ruler over them. 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. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net and burn incense
unto their drag, because by them their portion is fat and their
meat plenteous. Shall they therefore empty their
net and not spare continually to slay the nations? Habakkuk chapter 2 I 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. And the Lord
answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain
upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For 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. Behold, his
soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him, but the just
shall live by his faith. Yea, 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.
Shall 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? Shall they not rise up suddenly
that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou
shalt be for booties unto them? Because 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. Woe 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! Thou hast
consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and
hast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of
the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe
to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth the city
by iniquity! Behold, 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? For the earth
shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as
the waters cover the sea. Woe 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. Thou
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. For 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. What 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? Woe 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. But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence
before him. Habakkuk chapter 3 A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet,
upon Shigeonoth. O 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. God came from Teman, and the
Holy One from Mount Paran. See there. His glory covered
the heavens. And the earth was full of his
praise, and his brightness was as the light. He had horns coming
out of his hand, and there was the hiding of his power. Before
him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his
feet. He stood and measured the earth,
he beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting
mountains were scattered that the petule hills did bow. His
ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Cushon in
affliction, and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. Was 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? Thy bow was made quite naked,
according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word, Selah,
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. The 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. The sun and moon stood still
in their habitation. At the light of thine arrows
they went. and at the shining of thy glittering
spear. Thou didst march through the
land in indignation. Thou didst thresh the heathen
in anger. Thou wentest forth for the salvation
of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed. Thou woundest
the head out of the house of the wicked by discovering the
foundation under the neck. Selah. Thou didst strike through
with his staves the head of his villagers. They came out as a
whirlwind to scatter me. Their rejoicing was to devour
the poor secretly. Thou didst walk through the sea
with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. When 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. Although the fig tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor
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. Yet I
will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The 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.