Habakkuk 1
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 609 BC – 598 BC · Judah alone · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
17 verses · 395 words · ~2 min read · ~3 min listen
Habakkukʼs First Complaint
1This is the burden that Habakkuk the prophet received in a vision:
2How long, O Lord, must I call for help
but You do not hear,
or cry out to You, “Violence!”
but You do not save?
3Why do You make me see iniquity?
Why do You tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
4Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
The LORDʼs Answer
5“Look at the nations and observe—
be utterly astounded!
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would never believe
even if someone told you.
6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—
that ruthless and impetuous nation
which marches through the breadth of the earth
to seize dwellings not their own.
7They are dreaded and feared;
from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.
8Their horses are swifter than leopards,
fiercer than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead,
and their cavalry comes from afar.
They fly like a vulture,
swooping down to devour.
9All of them come bent on violence;
their hordes advance like the east wind;
they gather prisoners like sand.
10They scoff at kings
and make rulers an object of scorn.
They laugh at every fortress
and build up siege ramps to seize it.
11Then they sweep by like the wind
and pass on through.
They are guilty;
their own strength is their god.”
Habakkukʼs Second Complaint
12Are You not from everlasting,
O Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
O Lord, You have appointed them
to execute judgment;
O Rock, You have established them
for correction.
13Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do You tolerate the faithless?
Why are You silent
while the wicked swallow up
those more righteous than themselves?
14You have made men like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things that have no ruler.
15The foe pulls all of them up with a hook;
he catches them in his dragnet,
and gathers them in his fishing net;
so he rejoices gladly.
16Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet
and burns incense to his fishing net,
for by these things his portion is sumptuous
and his food is rich.
17Will he, therefore, empty his net
and continue to slay nations without mercy?
Footnotes (4)
- a v5 LXX Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish!
- b v5 Cited in Acts 13:41
- c v6 That is, the Babylonians
- d v15 Literally He pulls all of them up
Study notes on this chapter · 1
Prophecy & fulfillmentLinked by the New Testament
Look, you scoffers, and perish
Paul ends his synagogue sermon with a warning from Habakkuk: God is doing a work that people will not believe even if told. In Habakkuk the work is the rise of Babylon's armies; Paul applies the pattern to the gospel, warning that unbelief has consequences as it did then.
When: Habakkuk, c. 610–600 BC; Paul's sermon, c. AD 46–48.
Original passageHabakkuk 1:5
Where the New Testament applies itActs 13:40–41
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.