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Habakkuk 1
New Catholic Bible
Habakkuk 1
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 1
1 [a]This is the oracle that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.
Habakkuk’s Discussion with God
2 How long, O Lord, must I cry for help
while you do not listen?
I cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you refuse to intervene.
3 Why do you make me witness wrongdoing
and confront me with wickedness?
Destruction and violence confront me;
strife is everywhere, and discord abounds.
4 As a result, the law becomes ineffective
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
and judgment becomes perverted.
5 “Gaze upon the nations and see.
You will be amazed, even astounded.
You will not believe it when you are told
what I am doing in your days.
6 For I am stirring up the Chaldeans,
that savage and unruly people,
who march across the whole earth
to seize dwellings of other people.
7 They inspire fear and terror,
and they impose justice and judgment
according to their own standards.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards
and more frightening than wolves at dusk.
Their horses gallop on,
with riders advancing from far away,
swooping like eagles to devour their prey.
9 They are all bent on violence,
a horde moving steadily forward like an east wind;
they scoop up captives like sand.
10 They scoff at kings,
they despise rulers.
They regard every fortress with contempt,
as they build earthen ramps to conquer it.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind and are gone,
as they ascribe their strength to their god.”
12 “O Lord, are you not from everlasting,
my holy God, you who are immortal?
You have marked them for judgment, O Lord;
you, O Rock, have designated them for punishment.
13 Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil,
and you cannot countenance wrongdoing.
Why then do you remain silent
as you gaze on the treachery of the wicked,
watching them while they devour
those who are more righteous?
14 You have made men like the fish of the sea,
like crawling creatures without a ruler.
15 The wicked haul all of them up with a hook
or catch them in a net.
They gather them up in a seine,
and then rejoice and exult.
16 Therefore, the wicked offer sacrifice to their net
and burn incense to their seine,
for, thanks to them, they live sumptuously
and enjoy elegant food.
17 Shall they then be allowed
to draw their sword unceasingly,
and to slaughter nations without mercy?
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:1 Habakkuk encounters the great problem of evil: among peoples and individuals, the strong always oppress the weak, unless God intervenes. The prophets explain the situation by seeing oppressors as the instruments of God’s anger who punish the sin of the people. Like Job, Habakkuk rejects such an explanation as overly simplistic.
Habakkuk 1
New International Version
Habakkuk 1
New International Version
1 The prophecy(A) that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2 How long,(B) Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?(C)
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?(D)
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate(E) wrongdoing?(F)
Destruction and violence(G) are before me;
there is strife,(H) and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law(I) is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice(J) is perverted.(K)
The Lord’s Answer
5 “Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.(L)
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.(M)
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[a](N)
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth(O)
to seize dwellings not their own.(P)
7 They are a feared and dreaded people;(Q)
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
8 Their horses are swifter(R) than leopards,
fiercer than wolves(S) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9 they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes[b] advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners(T) like sand.
10 They mock kings
and scoff at rulers.(U)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen ramps(V) they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind(W) and go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”(X)
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?(Y)
My God, my Holy One,(Z) you[c] will never die.(AA)
You, Lord, have appointed(AB) them to execute judgment;
you, my Rock,(AC) have ordained them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pure(AD) to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.(AE)
Why then do you tolerate(AF) the treacherous?(AG)
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?(AH)
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The wicked(AI) foe pulls all of them up with hooks,(AJ)
he catches them in his net,(AK)
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense(AL) to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?(AM)
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
- Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Habakkuk 1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we
New International Version (NIV) 
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