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 1,4 Hab 1,4
{Or, For the foundations are destroyed; What hath the righteous wrought?}If the foundations be destroyed,What can the righteous do?
And the two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him: and the base fellows bare witness against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did {Or, renounce}curse God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him to death with stones.
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou {Or, bear witness}speak in a cause to turn aside after a multitude to wrest justice:
It is time for Jehovah to work;For they have made void thy law.
Wherefore do the wicked live,Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
Thou shalt not wrest the justice due to thy poor in his cause.
And he said unto them, Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition.
For dogs have compassed me:A company of evil-doers have inclosed me; {So the Septuagint Version, Vulgate, and Syriac. The Hebrew text as pointed reads, Like a lion, my &c.}They pierced my hands and my feet.
Thou shalt not wrest justice: thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a bribe; for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the {Or, cause}words of the righteous.
Do we then make {Or, law}the law of none effect {Or, through the faith Galatians 2:16.}through faith? God forbid: nay, we establish {Or, law}the law.
For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam. {Or, Is the righteousness ye should speak dumb?}Do ye indeed {Or, as otherwise read, O ye gods Or, O ye mighty ones}in silence speak righteousness?Do ye {Or, judge uprightly the sons of men}judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of {Or, perverseness}wresting of judgment: for they say, Jehovah hath forsaken the land, and Jehovah seeth not.
Nay, in heart ye work wickedness;Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,And save me from the bloodthirsty men.
They run and prepare themselves without my fault:Awake thou to {Hebrew: meet.}help me, and behold.
A Psalm of Asaph.God standeth in the congregation of God;He judgeth among the gods.
How long will ye judge unjustly,And respect the persons of the wicked? [Selah
Judge the {Or, weak}poor and fatherless:Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Rescue the {Or, weak}poor and needy:Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
They know not, neither do they understand;They walk to and fro in darkness:All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
Jehovah, how long shall the wicked,How long shall the wicked triumph?
Shall the {Or, seat}throne of wickedness have fellowship with thee,Which frameth mischief by statute?
They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous,And condemn the innocent blood.
How is the faithful city become a harlot! she that was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water.
Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear.
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue muttereth wickedness.
None {Hebrew: called.}sueth in righteousness, and none pleadeth in truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
They hatch adders' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth; and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.
Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their {Or, highways}paths.
The way of peace they know not; and there is no justice in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whosoever goeth therein doth not know peace.
transgressing and denying Jehovah, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
And justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter.
Yea, truth is lacking; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey.And Jehovah saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxed rich.
They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee; yet would I {Hebrew: speak of judgements.}reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?
For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; even they have cried aloud after thee: believe them not, though they speak {Hebrew: good things.}fair words unto thee.
And it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that Jehovah had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty-men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt.
And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt;
and they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the {Hebrew: sons of the people.}common people.
Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him; so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
And the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.
When Jeremiah was come into the {Or, house of the pit}dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
Then the princes said unto the king, Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; forasmuch as he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
And Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do anything against you.
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the {Or, pit}dungeon of Malchijah {Or, the son of Hammelech}the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst thereof.
Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
And her prophets have daubed for them with {Or, whitewash}untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not spoken.
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.
They speak vain words, {Or, they swear falsely, they make covenants}swearing falsely in making covenants: therefore judgment {Or, shall spring up}springeth up as {Hebrew: rosh. See Deuteronomy 29:18}hemlock in the furrows of the field.
Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,
For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins— ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right.
Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
{Or, Both hands are put forth for evil to do it &c.}Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.
The best of them is as a brier; {Or, the straightest is as it were taken from &c.}the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.
Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city:
that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar.
Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Now the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death;
and they found it not, though many false witnesses came. But afterward came two,
and said, This man said, I am able to destroy the {Or, sanctuary: as in chapter 23:35; 27:5}temple of God, and to build it in three days.
And the high priest stood up, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God.
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.
Then the high priest rent his garments, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy: what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy:
what think ye? They answered and said, He is {Greek: liable to.}worthy of death.
Now when morning was come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
and they bound him, and led him away, and delivered him up to Pilate the governor.
And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
Then released he unto them Barabbas; but Jesus he scourged and delivered to be crucified.
Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers;
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
And when it was day, the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
And they were more than forty that made this conspiracy.
And they came to the chief priests and the elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.
But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats?
Do not they blaspheme the honorable name {Greek: which was called upon you? See Acts 15:17.}by which ye are called?