God Answers the Prophet
2 I will (A)stand at my guard post
And station myself on the watchtower;
And I will (B)keep watch to see (C)what He will say to me,
And how I may reply [a]when I am reprimanded.
2 Then the Lord answered me and said,
“(D)Write down the vision
And inscribe it clearly on tablets,
So that one who [b]reads it may run.
3 For the vision is yet for the (E)appointed time;
It [c]hurries toward the goal and it will not [d]fail.
Though it delays, (F)wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it (G)will not delay long.
4 “Behold, as for the (H)impudent one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the (I)righteous one will live by his [e]faith.
5 Furthermore, (J)wine betrays an (K)arrogant man,
So that he does not (L)achieve his objective.
He (M)enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all the nations
And collects to himself all the peoples.
6 “Will all of these not (N)take up a song of ridicule against him,
Even a saying and insinuations against him
And say, ‘(O)Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself [f]rich with debts!’
7 Will [g]your creditors not (P)rise up suddenly,
And those who [h]collect from you awaken?
Indeed, you will become plunder for them.
8 Since you have (Q)looted many nations,
All the rest of the peoples will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and violence [i]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
9 “Woe to him who makes (R)evil profit for his household,
To (S)put his nest on high,
To be saved from the hand of catastrophe!
10 You have planned a (T)shameful thing for your house
By bringing many peoples to an end;
So you are (U)sinning against yourself.
11 For the (V)stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the [j]framework.
12 “Woe to him who (W)builds a city with bloodshed,
And founds a town with [k]violence!
13 Is it not indeed from the Lord of armies
That peoples (X)labor merely for fire,
And nations become weary for nothing?
14 For the earth will be (Y)filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.
15 “Woe to him who makes his neighbor drink;
[l]To you who mix in your venom even to make your neighbors drunk,
So as to look at their genitalia!
16 You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
(Z)Drink, you yourself, and [m]expose your own foreskin!
The (AA)cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you,
And (AB)utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
17 For the (AC)violence [n]done to Lebanon will [o]overwhelm you,
And the devastation of its animals [p]by which you terrified them,
(AD)Because of human bloodshed and (AE)violence [q]done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
18 “What (AF)benefit is a carved image when its maker has carved it,
Or a cast metal image, a (AG)teacher of falsehood?
For its maker (AH)trusts in his own handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols.
19 Woe to him who (AI)says to a piece of wood, ‘(AJ)Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
That is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with (AK)gold and silver,
Yet there is (AL)no breath at all inside it.
20 But the (AM)Lord is in His holy temple.
[r]Let all the earth (AN)be silent before Him.”
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:1 Lit upon my reprimand
- Habakkuk 2:2 Or is to proclaim; or reads it may read it fluently
- Habakkuk 2:3 Lit pants
- Habakkuk 2:3 Or lie
- Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
- Habakkuk 2:6 Lit heavy
- Habakkuk 2:7 Lit those who bite you
- Habakkuk 2:7 Lit violently shake you
- Habakkuk 2:8 Lit of the land
- Habakkuk 2:11 Lit wood
- Habakkuk 2:12 Lit injustice
- Habakkuk 2:15 Another reading is From the cup of your venom
- Habakkuk 2:16 Lit show yourself uncircumcised; DSS and ancient versions stagger
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit of Lebanon
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit cover
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit which shattered them
- Habakkuk 2:17 Lit of the land
- Habakkuk 2:20 Lit Hush before Him, all the earth
Cross references
- Habakkuk 2:1 : Is 21:8
- Habakkuk 2:1 : Ps 5:3
- Habakkuk 2:1 : Ps 85:8
- Habakkuk 2:2 : Deut 27:8; Rom 15:4; Rev 1:19
- Habakkuk 2:3 : Dan 8:17, 19; 10:14
- Habakkuk 2:3 : Ps 27:14
- Habakkuk 2:3 : Ezek 12:25; Heb 10:37
- Habakkuk 2:4 : Ps 49:18; Is 13:11
- Habakkuk 2:4 : Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38
- Habakkuk 2:5 : Prov 20:1
- Habakkuk 2:5 : Prov 21:24
- Habakkuk 2:5 : 2 Kin 14:10
- Habakkuk 2:5 : Prov 27:20; 30:16; Is 5:11-15
- Habakkuk 2:6 : Is 14:4-10; Jer 50:13
- Habakkuk 2:6 : Job 20:15-29; Hab 2:12
- Habakkuk 2:7 : Prov 29:1
- Habakkuk 2:8 : Is 33:1; Jer 27:7; Zech 2:8
- Habakkuk 2:9 : Jer 22:13; Ezek 22:27
- Habakkuk 2:9 : Jer 49:16
- Habakkuk 2:10 : 2 Kin 9:26; Nah 1:14; Hab 2:16
- Habakkuk 2:10 : Jer 26:19
- Habakkuk 2:11 : Josh 24:27; Luke 19:40
- Habakkuk 2:12 : Mic 3:10; Nah 3:1
- Habakkuk 2:13 : Is 50:11; Jer 51:58
- Habakkuk 2:14 : Ps 22:27; Is 11:9; Zech 14:9
- Habakkuk 2:16 : Lam 4:21
- Habakkuk 2:16 : Jer 25:15, 17
- Habakkuk 2:16 : Nah 3:6
- Habakkuk 2:17 : Joel 3:19; Zech 11:1
- Habakkuk 2:17 : Ps 55:23; Hab 2:8
- Habakkuk 2:17 : Jer 51:35; Hab 2:8
- Habakkuk 2:18 : Is 42:17; 44:9; Jer 2:27, 28
- Habakkuk 2:18 : Jer 10:8, 14; Zech 10:2
- Habakkuk 2:18 : Ps 115:4, 8
- Habakkuk 2:19 : Jer 2:27, 28; 10:3
- Habakkuk 2:19 : 1 Kin 18:26-29
- Habakkuk 2:19 : Ps 135:15-18; Jer 10:4, 9, 14
- Habakkuk 2:19 : Ps 135:17
- Habakkuk 2:20 : Mic 1:2
- Habakkuk 2:20 : Zeph 1:7; Zech 2:13