The {Or, oracle}burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save.
Why dost thou show me iniquity, and {Or, cause me to look}look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.
Therefore the law is slacked, and justice {Or, goeth not forth unto victory}doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted.
Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for {Or, one worketh}I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.
{Hebrew: He, and so in verse 8, 9.}They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen {Or, spread themselves}press proudly on: yea, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.
They come all of them for violence; {Hebrew: the eagerness (or, assembling) of their faces is &c.}the set of their faces is {Or, towards the east}forwards; and they gather captives as the sand.
{Or, And they scoff &c.}Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
{Or, Then shall the wind sweep by, and he shall pass away}Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall {Or, transgress}pass over, and be guilty, even he whose might is his god.
Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast established him for correction.
Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he;
and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
He taketh up all of them with the angle, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad.
Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his food {Hebrew: fat.}plenteous.
Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually?
Querverweise zu Habakuk 1,2 Hab 1,2
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever?How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
For the Chief Musician; set to {That is, The hind of the morning.}Aijeleth hash-Shahar. A Psalm of David.My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? {Or, Far from my help are the words of my groaning Hebrew: roaring.}Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,Having sorrow in my heart all the day?How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou answerest not;And in the night season, {Or, but find no rest}and am not silent.
We see not our signs:There is no more any prophet;Neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
Why shouldest thou be as a man affrighted, as a mighty man that cannot save? Yet thou, O Jehovah, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach?Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
Yea, when I cry, and call for help, he shutteth out my prayer.
Jehovah, how long shall the wicked,How long shall the wicked triumph?
and they cried with a great voice, saying, How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?