Habakkuk 1

1The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.

2How long, O Lord, shall I cry out to You, and You will not hear me? Being wronged I cry out to You; You will not save.

3Why have You shown me hardship and suffering, to look upon misery and ungodliness? Judgment is before me, and the judge takes bribes.

4Therefore the law is disregarded and justice is done ineffectually, for the ungodly oppress the righteous; therefore justice shall go forth perverted.

5'Behold, you scoffers, take notice; look and be amazed and be gone, for I am working a work in your days which you would not believe even if someone told it to you.

6For behold, I am raising up against you the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation that marches through the breadth of the earth to take possession of dwellings that are not theirs.

7He is terrible and awesome. His judgment and dignity proceeds from himself.

8Their horses bound more swiftly than leopards, and they are more fierce than the wolves of Arabia. His horsemen will ride out far away. They will spread out from afar, and they will fly as an eagle eager for its food.

9Destruction will come upon the ungodly, opposing their advances from the opposite side, and like sand will he gather the captivity.

10And he will revel in kings, and princes will be his plaything; he shall mock every fortified city and put up a siege mound and capture it.

11Then he will change his spirit, and he will pass through and he will make an atonement saying, 'This strength is from my god.' '

12Are You not from everlasting, O Lord God, my Holy One? O Lord, surely we shall not die. O Lord, You have ordered it for judgment; He has formed me to reprove for His instruction.

13His eye is too pure to see evil, and You are not able to look upon affliction. Why then do You pay attention to those who scoff and keep silence when the ungodly swallow up the just?

14And will you make men to be like the fish of the sea and as the reptiles with no one leading them?

15He has brought up destruction with a fishhook, drawn it with his casting net, and gathered it in his dragnets. Because of this he will be glad, and his heart will rejoice.

16On account of this he will sacrifice to his dragnet and burn incense to his casting net. For by them he has enriched his portion, and his foods are choice.

17Therefore, he will throw out his casting net, and he will not spare to kill all the nations.