HABAKKUK COMPLAINS TO GOD
Key verse: 2
NIV
1 The prophecy(A) that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2 How long,(B) Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?(C)
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?(D)
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate(E) wrongdoing?(F)
Destruction and violence(G) are before me;
there is strife,(H) and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law(I) is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice(J) is perverted.(K)
The Lord’s Answer
5 “Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.(L)
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.(M)
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[a](N)
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth(O)
to seize dwellings not their own.(P)
7 They are a feared and dreaded people;(Q)
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
8 Their horses are swifter(R) than leopards,
fiercer than wolves(S) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9 they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes[b] advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners(T) like sand.
10 They mock kings
and scoff at rulers.(U)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen ramps(V) they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind(W) and go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”(X)
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?(Y)
My God, my Holy One,(Z) you[c] will never die.(AA)
You, Lord, have appointed(AB) them to execute judgment;
you, my Rock,(AC) have ordained them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pure(AD) to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.(AE)
Why then do you tolerate(AF) the treacherous?(AG)
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?(AH)
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The wicked(AI) foe pulls all of them up with hooks,(AJ)
he catches them in his net,(AK)
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense(AL) to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?(AM)
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
- Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Habakkuk 1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we
Cross references
- Habakkuk 1:1 : S Na 1:1
- Habakkuk 1:2 : S Ps 6:3
- Habakkuk 1:2 : Ps 13:1-2; 22:1-2
- Habakkuk 1:2 : Jer 14:9; Zec 1:12
- Habakkuk 1:3 : ver 13
- Habakkuk 1:3 : S Job 9:23
- Habakkuk 1:3 : Jer 20:8
- Habakkuk 1:3 : S Ps 55:9
- Habakkuk 1:4 : Ps 119:126
- Habakkuk 1:4 : S Isa 29:21
- Habakkuk 1:4 : S Job 19:7; S Isa 1:23; 5:20; S Eze 9:9
- Habakkuk 1:5 : S Isa 29:9
- Habakkuk 1:5 : Ac 13:41*
- Habakkuk 1:6 : S Dt 28:49; S 2Ki 24:2
- Habakkuk 1:6 : Rev 20:9
- Habakkuk 1:6 : S Jer 13:20; S 21:7
- Habakkuk 1:7 : Isa 18:7; Jer 39:5-9
- Habakkuk 1:8 : S Jer 4:13
- Habakkuk 1:8 : S Ge 49:27
- Habakkuk 1:9 : Hab 2:5
- Habakkuk 1:10 : S 2Ch 36:6
- Habakkuk 1:10 : S Jer 33:4
- Habakkuk 1:11 : Jer 4:11-12
- Habakkuk 1:11 : S Da 4:30
- Habakkuk 1:12 : S Ge 21:33
- Habakkuk 1:12 : Isa 31:1; 37:23
- Habakkuk 1:12 : Ps 118:17
- Habakkuk 1:12 : Isa 10:6
- Habakkuk 1:12 : S Ge 49:24; S Ex 33:22
- Habakkuk 1:13 : Ps 18:26
- Habakkuk 1:13 : S La 3:34-36
- Habakkuk 1:13 : ver 3
- Habakkuk 1:13 : S Ps 25:3
- Habakkuk 1:13 : S Job 21:7
- Habakkuk 1:15 : Jer 5:26
- Habakkuk 1:15 : S Isa 19:8
- Habakkuk 1:15 : S Job 18:8; Jer 16:16
- Habakkuk 1:16 : Jer 44:8
- Habakkuk 1:17 : S Isa 14:6; 19:8
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway
ESV
1 (A)The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Habakkuk's Complaint
2 O Lord, (B)how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you (C)“Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 (D)Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction (E)and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
4 (F)So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
(G)For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.
The Lord's Answer
5 (H)“Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
(I)For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6 For behold, (J)I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
(K)who march through the breadth of the earth,
(L)to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
(M)their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 (N)Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than (O)the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
(P)they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come (Q)for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives (R)like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
(S)They laugh at every fortress,
for (T)they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
(U)guilty men, (V)whose own might is their god!”
Habakkuk's Second Complaint
12 Are you not (W)from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
(X)We shall not die.
O Lord, (Y)you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O (Z)Rock, have established them for reproof.
13 You who are (AA)of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
(AB)why do you idly look at traitors
and (AC)remain silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 (AD)He[a] brings all of them up (AE)with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and is glad.
16 (AF)Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,[b]
and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
(AG)and mercilessly killing nations forever?
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:15 That is, the wicked foe
- Habakkuk 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat
Cross references
- Habakkuk 1:1 : See Nah. 1:1
- Habakkuk 1:2 : Ps. 13:1; 89:46
- Habakkuk 1:2 : Mic. 6:12
- Habakkuk 1:3 : See Jer. 9:2-6
- Habakkuk 1:3 : [See ver. 2 above]; Mic. 6:12
- Habakkuk 1:4 : [Mic. 7:3]
- Habakkuk 1:4 : [Job 21:7; Jer. 12:1]
- Habakkuk 1:5 : Cited Acts 13:41
- Habakkuk 1:5 : [Isa. 28:21; 29:14]
- Habakkuk 1:6 : See Jer. 5:15
- Habakkuk 1:6 : [ch. 2:5]
- Habakkuk 1:6 : [ch. 2:6]
- Habakkuk 1:7 : [ver. 10, 11]
- Habakkuk 1:8 : Jer. 4:13
- Habakkuk 1:8 : Jer. 5:6; Zeph. 3:3
- Habakkuk 1:8 : See Deut. 28:49
- Habakkuk 1:9 : [ch. 2:17]
- Habakkuk 1:9 : See Josh. 11:4
- Habakkuk 1:10 : [Nah. 3:12]
- Habakkuk 1:10 : [Ezek. 4:2]
- Habakkuk 1:11 : [Hos. 13:16]
- Habakkuk 1:11 : [ver. 7]
- Habakkuk 1:12 : Deut. 33:27; Ps. 90:2; 93:2
- Habakkuk 1:12 : [Mal. 3:6]
- Habakkuk 1:12 : See Isa. 10:5-7
- Habakkuk 1:12 : See Deut. 32:4
- Habakkuk 1:13 : [Ps. 5:5]
- Habakkuk 1:13 : Jer. 12:1
- Habakkuk 1:13 : Ps. 35:22
- Habakkuk 1:15 : Jer. 16:16; Amos 4:2
- Habakkuk 1:15 : [Isa. 19:8]
- Habakkuk 1:16 : [ver. 11]
- Habakkuk 1:17 : [ch. 2:10]
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway
1. How long, Lord? (1-4)
Habakkuk was a prophet from Judah, writing just prior to the Babylonian exile. He saw injustice in his land—destruction and violence. But the Lord seemed absent. So, he sought God in prayer. Why did a just God seem to ignore such injustice?
2. The Lord's answer (5-17)
God gave an unexpected answer; he would exercise justice in his way. He would use the Babylonian armies to execute judgment on his people. Habakkuk once again came to God. How could a just God allow the wicked to swallow up those more righteous than themselves? The prophet complained, but he came to God with everything. He sought God as his eternal Rock. He would watch and wait.
Prayer: Lord, your judgment alone is just. Help me to live as one who seeks God when the world seems so unjust, trusting in you.
One Word: Seek God’s justice