Habakkuk 1

NSB^{(i) 1} This is the message Jehovah revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: ² How long, O Jehovah (YHWH), will I call for help and you do not hear? I cry out to you, save me from violence! And yet you do not save. ³ Why do you make me see wickedness and immorality? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife exists and contention arises. ⁴ The law is paralyzed and justice is never delivered. The wicked surround the righteous and deliver perverted justice. ⁵ »Look among the nations, watch, and be amazed. Though you are told you will not believe the work I do today. ⁶ »Behold, I bring the Chaldeans to power, that bitter and impetuous nation. They march through the expanse of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. ⁷ »They are feared and dreaded. Their justice and dignity are of their own being. ⁸ »Their horses are swifter than leopards. They are fiercer than the evening wolves. Their horsemen proudly press on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle in a hurry to eat. ⁹ »They all come for violence. Their crowds look straight ahead and gather prisoners like the sand. ¹⁰ »They scoff at kings, and princes are derision to them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they build earthen ramps and capture them. ¹¹ »They will sweep by like a wind and continue on. They will be held guilty for might is their god.« ¹² You are from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One, You are eternal. O Jehovah, you have appointed them (the Chaldean) to execute judgment. You, O Rock, have established them for correction. ¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look at evil. You cannot look at perversity. Why do you look at treacherous persons and not act? Why do you keep quiet when the wicked destroy the man who is more righteous? ¹⁴ Why do you make men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler over them? ¹⁵ He brings them all up with the hook. He gathers them away in his net. He gladly gathers them and rejoices. ¹⁶ He offers sacrifices and burns incense to his fishing net. For it is through this their catch is great and the food is plentiful. ¹⁷ Will they keep on emptying their nets and keep on destroying nations without mercy?