Habakkuk 2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Habakkuk Waits for God’s Response
2 I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.(A)
I will watch to see what He will say to me(B)
and what I should[a] reply about my complaint.
God’s Second Answer
2 The Lord answered me:
Write down this vision;(C)
clearly inscribe it on tablets
so one may easily read it.[b]
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.(D)
4 Look, his ego is inflated;[c]
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.[d](E)
5 Moreover, wine[e] betrays;
an arrogant man is never at rest.[f]
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
and like Death he is never satisfied.(F)
He gathers all the nations to himself;
he collects all the peoples for himself.
The Five Woe Oracles
6 Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,
with mockery and riddles about him?
They will say:
Woe to him who amasses what is not his—
how much longer?—
and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.(G)
7 Won’t your creditors suddenly arise,
and those who disturb you wake up?
Then you will become spoil for them.(H)
8 Since you have plundered many nations,
all the peoples who remain will plunder you—
because of human bloodshed
and violence against lands, cities,
and all who live in them.(I)
9 Woe to him who dishonestly makes
wealth for his house[g]
to place his nest on high,
to escape from the reach of disaster!(J)
10 You have planned shame for your house
by wiping out many peoples
and sinning against your own self.
11 For the stones will cry out(K) from the wall,
and the rafters will answer them
from the woodwork.
12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and founds a town with injustice!(L)
13 Is it not from the Lord of Hosts
that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire
and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?(M)
14 For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,
as the waters cover the sea.(N)
15 Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath[h]
and even making them drunk,
in order to look at their nakedness!
16 You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.
You also—drink,
and expose your uncircumcision![i]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and utter disgrace will cover your glory.(O)
17 For your violence against Lebanon
will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you[j]
because of your human bloodshed and violence
against lands, cities, and all who live in them.
18 What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes idols that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!
or to mute stone: Come alive!
Can it teach?
Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,
yet there is no breath in it at all.
20 But the Lord is in His holy temple;
let everyone on earth
be silent in His presence.(P)
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:1 Syr reads what He will
- Habakkuk 2:2 Lit one who reads in it may run
- Habakkuk 2:4 Hb obscure
- Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
- Habakkuk 2:5 DSS read wealth
- Habakkuk 2:5 Or man does not endure; Hb obscure
- Habakkuk 2:9 Or dynasty
- Habakkuk 2:15 Or venom
- Habakkuk 2:16 DSS, LXX, Aq, Syr, Vg read and stagger
- Habakkuk 2:17 DSS, LXX, Aq, Syr, Tg, Vg; MT reads them
Habakkuk 2
King James Version
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.
2 And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
3 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.
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
5 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:
6 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!
7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
8 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.
9 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!
10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.
11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
13 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?
14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
15 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!
16 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.
17 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.
18 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?
19 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.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
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