1The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see . 2O LORD , how long shall I cry , and thou wilt not hear ! even cry out unto thee of violence , and thou wilt 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 . 4Therefore the law is slacked , and judgment doth never go forth : for the wicked doth compass about the righteous ; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth .
God's Response
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 . 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. 7They are terrible and dreadful : their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. 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 . 9They shall come all for violence : their faces shall sup up as the east wind , and they shall gather the captivity as the 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. 11Then shall his mind change , and he shall pass over , and offend , imputing this his power unto his god .
The Prophet's Second Complaint
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 . 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? 14And makest men as the fishes of the sea , as the creeping things , that have no ruler over them? 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 . 16Therefore they sacrifice unto their net , and burn incense unto their drag ; because by them their portion is fat , and their meat plenteous . 17Shall they therefore empty their net , and not spare continually to slay the nations ?