I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the {Or, fortress}tower, and will look forth to see what he will speak {Or, by}with me, and what I shall answer concerning my complaint.
And Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it.
For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it {Hebrew: panteth.}hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.
Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not {Or, straight}upright in him; but the righteous shall live {Or, in his faithfulness}by his faith.
{Or, And also because his wine…he is a haughty man}Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man, {Or, he shall not abide}that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples.
Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting {Or, riddle}proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and that ladeth himself with pledges!
Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall {Or, exact usury of thee}bite thee, and awake that shall {Or, toss thee to and fro}vex thee, and thou shalt be for booty unto them?
Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder thee, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein.
Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!
Thou hast devised shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thy soul.
For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!
Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.
Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, to thee that {Or, pourest}addest thy {Or, fury}venom, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
Thou art filled with shame, and not glory: drink thou also, and {Or, let thy foreskin be uncovered}be as one uncircumcised; the cup of Jehovah's right hand shall come round unto thee, and foul shame shall be upon thy glory.
For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of the beasts, which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein.
What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
But Jehovah is in his holy temple: {Hebrew: be silent before him, all the earth.}let all the earth keep silence before him.
Querverweise zu Habakuk 2,18 Hab 2,18
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
But they are {Or, through one thing}together brutish and foolish: {Or, the stock is a doctrine of vanities}the instruction of idols! it is but a stock.
Their idols are silver and gold,The work of men's hands.
They have mouths, but they speak not;Eyes have they, but they see not;
They have ears, but they hear not;Noses have they, but they smell not;
They have hands, but they handle not;Feet have they, but they walk not;Neither speak they through their throat.
They that make them shall be like unto them;Yea, every one that trusteth in them.
Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led.
They shall be turned back, they shall be utterly put to shame, that trust in graven images, that say unto molten images, Ye are our gods.
Every man {Or, is too brutish to know}is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
The idols of the nations are silver and gold,The work of men's hands.
They have mouths, but they speak not;Eyes have they, but they see not;
They have ears, but they hear not;Neither is there any breath in their mouths.
They that make them shall be like unto them;Yea, every one that trusteth in them.
They that fashion a graven image are all of them {Or, confusion}vanity; and the things that they delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses see not, nor know: that they may be put to shame.
They are vanity, a work of {Or, mockery}delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
And the strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
Who hath fashioned a god, or molten an image that is profitable for nothing?
They that regard lying vanitiesForsake their own mercy.
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the holm-tree and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest: he planteth {Or, an ash}a fir-tree, and the rain doth nourish it.
Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he taketh thereof, and warmeth himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread: yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
He burneth {Or, the half}part thereof in the fire; with {Or, the half}part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.
And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image; he falleth down unto it and worshippeth, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
They know not, neither do they consider: for he hath {Hebrew: daubed.}shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
And none calleth to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside; and he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
They shall be put to shame, yea, confounded, all of them; they shall go into confusion together that are makers of idols.
For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and {Or, the dreamers speak falsely}they have told false dreams, they comfort in vain: therefore they go their way like sheep, they are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.
Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves:
for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed {Greek: unto the ages.}for ever. Amen.
Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: the things that ye carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary beast.
even he, whose {Greek: presence.}coming is according to the working of Satan with all {Greek: power and signs and wonders of falsehood.}power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that {Or, are perishing}perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:
They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,
Such as lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god; they fall down, yea, they worship.
They bear it upon the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it standeth, from its place shall it not remove: yea, one may cry unto it, yet can it not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
Remember this, and {Or, stand fast}show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.
through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, {Or, seared}branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron;
who say to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast {Or, begotten me}brought {Another reading is, us.}me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like unto a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight. And he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to {See marginal note on chapter 3:9}worship the first beast, whose death-stroke was healed.
And he doeth great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men.
And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who hath the stroke of the sword and lived.
And it was given unto him to give breath to it, even to the image of the breast, {Some ancient authorities read that even the image of the beast should speak;and he shall cause &c.}that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should not {See marginal note on chapter 3:9}worship the image of the beast should be killed.
But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that {See marginal note on chapter 3:9}worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone:
For the {Hebrew: statues.}customs of the peoples are vanity; for {Or, it is but a tree which one cutteth}one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.
They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
They are like a {Or, pillar}palm-tree, of turned work, and speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.
Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is {Or, broken down}dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are {Or, broken down}dismayed.
What fruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.