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Habakkuk 2:19-20
New English Translation
Habakkuk 2:19-20
New English Translation
19 Woe to the one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’—
he who says[a] to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance?[b]
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
20 But the Lord is in his majestic palace.[c]
The whole earth is speechless in his presence!”[d]
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:19 tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.
- Habakkuk 2:19 tn Though the Hebrew text has no formal interrogative marker here, the context indicates that the statement should be taken as a rhetorical question anticipating the answer, “Of course not!” (so also NIV, NRSV).
- Habakkuk 2:20 tn Or “holy temple.” The Lord’s heavenly palace, rather than the earthly temple, is probably in view here (see Ps 11:4; Mic 1:2-3). The Hebrew word קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holy”) here refers to the sovereign transcendence associated with his palace.
- Habakkuk 2:20 tn Or “Be quiet before him, all the earth!”
New English Translation (NET)
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