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 1,13 Hab 1,13
Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones;Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight:
Why standest thou afar off, O Jehovah?Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
A {Or, hard}grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous man dealeth treacherously, and the destroyer destroyeth. Go up, O Elam; besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof {Or, will I make}have I made to cease.
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house will perish: and who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
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.
For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: {Or, The evil man}Evil shall not sojourn with thee.
In the pride of the wicked {Or, he doth hotly pursue the poor}the poor {Hebrew: is set on fire.}is hotly pursued; {Or, They are taken}Let them be taken in the devices that they have conceived.
Woe to thee that destroyest, and thou wast not destroyed; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou hast ceased to destroy, thou shalt be destroyed; and when thou hast made an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
Thou hast seen it, O Jehovah; keep not silence:O Lord, be not far from me.
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.
{Or, Fools}The arrogant shall not stand in thy sight:Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Break thou the arm of the wicked;And as for the evil man, seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence:A fire devoureth before him,And it is very tempestuous round about him.
How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed, shall I not now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?
Jehovah is in his holy temple;Jehovah, his throne is in heaven;His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
Jehovah trieth the righteous;But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
Upon the wicked he will rain snares;Fire and brimstone and burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.
For Jehovah is righteous; He loveth {Or, righteous deeds}righteousness: {Or, His countenance doth behold the upright}The upright shall behold his face.
For I was envious at the {Or, fools}arrogant,When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself:But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
And Jehovah will return his blood upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew it not, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous,And his ears are open unto their cry.
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?
A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.O God, keep not thou silence:Hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
The wicked plotteth against the just,And gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
The Lord will laugh at him;For he seeth that his day is coming.
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow,To cast down the poor and needy,To slay such as are upright in the way.
Their sword shall enter into their own heart,And their bows shall be broken.
The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil,To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root; they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their {Hebrew: reins.}heart.
Open thy mouth for the dumb,In the cause of all such as are {Or, ready to pass away Hebrew; the sons of passing away.}left desolate.
The wicked watcheth the righteous,And seeketh to slay him.
but {Or, like the Holy One who called you}like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living;
Open thy mouth, judge righteously,And minister justice to the poor and needy.
Jehovah will not leave him in his hand,Nor condemn him when he is judged.
because it is written, {Leviticus 11:44 f.; 19:2; 20:7.}Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.
Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Jehovah? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?
For the Chief Musician; set to {That is, The silent dove of them that are afar off. Or, as otherwise read, The dove of the distant terebinths.}Jonath elem rehokim. A Psalm of David. Michtam; when the Philistines took him in Gath.Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up:All the day long he fighting oppresseth me.
{Or, They that lie in wait of me}Mine enemies would swallow me up all the day long;For they are many that fight proudly against me.
him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of {Or, men without the law See Romans 2:12.}lawless men did crucify and slay:
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his {Or, Child See Matthew 12:18; Isaiah 42:1; 52:13; 53:11.}Servant Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied before the face of Pilate, when he had determined to release him.
But ye denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted unto you,
and killed the {Or, Author}Prince of life; whom God raised from the dead; {Or, of whom}whereof we are witnesses.