| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. | 1The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received. |
| 2O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! | 2How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? |
| 3Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. | 3Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. |
| 4Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. | 4Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. |
| 5Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. | 5"Look at the nations and watch-- and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. |
| 6For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. | 6I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. |
| 7They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. | 7They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. |
| 8Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. | 8Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour; |
| 9They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. | 9they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. |
| 10And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it. | 10They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them. |
| 11Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. | 11Then they sweep past like the wind and go on-- guilty people, whose own strength is their god." |
| 12Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. | 12LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, LORD, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. |
| 13Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? | 13Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? |
| 14And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? | 14You have made people like the fish in the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler. |
| 15They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. | 15The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. |
| 16Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. | 16Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. |
| 17Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations? | 17Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy? |
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