1The pronouncementa that the prophet Habakkuk saw.b

Habakkuk’s First Prayer

2How long,a Lord, must I call for helpb

and you do not listen

or cry out to you about violencec

and you do not save?

3Why do you force me to look at injustice?a

Why do you tolerateA wrongdoing?

Oppression and violence are right in front of me.

Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

4This is why the law is ineffective

and justice never emerges.

For the wicked restricta the righteous;

therefore, justiceb comes out perverted.

God’s First Answer

5Look at the nationsa a and observeb —

be utterly astounded!c

For I am doing something in your days

that you will not believed

when you hear about it.e

6Look! I am raising upa the Chaldeans,A

that bitter,b impetuous nation

that marches across the earth’s open spaces

to seize territories not its own.

7They are fiercea and terrifying;

their views of justice and sovereignty

stem from themselves.

8Their horses are swiftera than leopardsb

and more fierceA than wolves of the night.

Their horsemen charge ahead;

their horsemen come from distant lands.

They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.c

9All of them come to do violence;

their facesa are set in determination.A

They gatherb prisoners like sand.c

10They mocka kings,

and rulers are a joke to them.

They laughb at every fortress

and build siege ramps to capturec it.

11Then they sweepa by like the wind

and pass through.

They are guilty;A their strength is their god.

Habakkuk’s Second Prayer

12Are you not from eternity, Lord my God?a

My Holy One,b youA will not die.

Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment;

my Rock,c you destined them to punish us.

13Your eyesa are too pureb to look on evil,

and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous?c

Why are you silent

while oneA who is wicked swallows up

oneB who is more righteous than himself?

14You have made mankind

like the fish of the sea,a

like marine creatures that have no ruler.

15The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,

catch them in their dragnet,a

and gather them in their fishing net;

that is why they are glad and rejoice.

16That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet

and burn incense to their fishing net,

for by these things their portion is rich

and their food plentiful.a

17Will they therefore empty their net

and continually slaughter nations without mercy?