1 I will htake my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and ilook out to see jwhat he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
2 And the Lord answered me:
k“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still lthe vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, mwait for it;
nit will surely come; it will not delay.
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
5 “Moreover, wine2 is pa traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.3
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death qhe has never enough.
rHe gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”
6 Shall not all these stake up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,
t“Woe to him uwho heaps up what is not his own—
for vhow long?—
and wloads himself with pledges!”
7 xWill not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be spoil for them.
8 yBecause you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
zfor the blood of man and yviolence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
9 t“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame for your house
cby cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11 For dthe stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 t“Woe to him ewho builds a town with blood
and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that fpeoples labor merely for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 gFor the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of hthe glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
15 t“Woe to him iwho makes his neighbors drink—
you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
in order to gaze jat their nakedness!
16 You will have your fill kof shame instead of glory.
lDrink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
lThe cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and mutter shame will come upon your glory!
17 nThe violence odone to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
nfor the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
18 p“What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, qa teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes rspeechless idols!
19 sWoe to him twho says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and uthere is no breath at all in it.
20 But vthe Lord is in his holy temple;
wlet all the earth keep silence before him.”
1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
2 O Lord, xI have heard the report of you,
and yyour work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years zrevive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
ain wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from bTeman,
cand the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
4 dHis brightness was like the light;
rays flashed from his hand;
and there he veiled his power.
5 eBefore him went pestilence,
and plague followed fat his heels.4
6 He stood gand measured the earth;
he looked and shook the nations;
then the heternal mountains iwere scattered;
the everlasting hills sank low.
His were jthe everlasting ways.
7 I saw the tents of kCushan in affliction;
lthe curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
8 mWas your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
Was your anger against the rivers,
mor your indignation against the sea,
nwhen you rode on your horses,
non your chariot of salvation?
9 You stripped the sheath from your bow,
calling for many arrows.5 Selah
pYou split the earth with rivers.
10 qThe mountains saw you and writhed;
the raging waters swept on;
rthe deep gave forth its voice;
sit lifted its hands on high.
11 tThe sun and moon stood still in their place
uat the light of your arrows as they sped,
at the flash of your glittering spear.
12 vYou marched through the earth in fury;
wyou threshed the nations in anger.
13 vYou went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of xyour anointed.
yYou crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck.6 Selah
14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
15 zYou trampled the sea with your horses,
the surging of mighty waters.
16 aI hear, and bmy body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
crottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet dI will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 eyet I will rejoice in the Lord;
fI will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
ghe makes my feet like the deer’s;
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