Habakuk 1

1 This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

2 

How long, O Lord, must I call for help?

    But you do not listen!

“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,

    but you do not come to save.

3 

Must I forever see these evil deeds?

    Why must I watch all this misery?

Wherever I look,

    I see destruction and violence.

I am surrounded by people

    who love to argue and fight.

4 

The law has become paralyzed,

    and there is no justice in the courts.

The wicked far outnumber the righteous,

    so that justice has become perverted.

The Lord’s Reply

5 The Lord replied,

“Look around at the nations;

    look and be amazed![a]

For I am doing something in your own day,

    something you wouldn’t believe

    even if someone told you about it.

6 

I am raising up the Babylonians,[b]

    a cruel and violent people.

They will march across the world

    and conquer other lands.

7 

They are notorious for their cruelty

    and do whatever they like.

8 

Their horses are swifter than cheetahs[c]

    and fiercer than wolves at dusk.

Their charioteers charge from far away.

    Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.

9 

“On they come, all bent on violence.

    Their hordes advance like a desert wind,

    sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.

10 

They scoff at kings and princes

    and scorn all their fortresses.

They simply pile ramps of earth

    against their walls and capture them!

11 

They sweep past like the wind

    and are gone.

But they are deeply guilty,

    for their own strength is their god.”

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