Articles and Notes
Habakkuk 1
Habakkuk 1
[Hab 1:1-17 NASB] 1 The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
The prophet's question
2 How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, "Violence!" Yet You do not save. 3 Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause [me] to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. 4 Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.
The Lord's reply
5 "Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because [I am] doing something in your days-- You would not believe if you were told. 6 "For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs. 7 "They are dreaded and feared; Their justice and authority originate with themselves. 8 "Their horses are swifter than leopards And keener than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come galloping, Their horsemen come from afar; They fly like an eagle swooping [down] to devour. 9 "All of them come for violence. Their horde of faces [moves] forward. They collect captives like sand. 10 "They mock at kings And rulers are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress And heap up rubble to capture it. 11 "Then they will sweep through [like] the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, They whose strength is their god."
The prophet's second question
12 Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct. 13 [Your] eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness [with favor.] Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they? 14 [Why] have You made men like the fish of the sea, Like creeping things without a ruler over them? 15 [The Chaldeans] bring all of them up with a hook, Drag them away with their net, And gather them together in their fishing net. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. 16 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net And burn incense to their fishing net; Because through these things their catch is large, And their food is plentiful. 17 Will they therefore empty their net And continually slay nations without sparing?