How long, Lord, must I call for help
and You do not listen
or cry out to You about violence
and You do not save?

Look, his ego is inflated;
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.

The Lord answered me:

Write down this vision;
clearly inscribe it on tablets
so one may easily read it.

Why do You force me to look at injustice?
Why do You tolerate wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

His brilliance is like light;
rays are flashing from His hand.
This is where His power is hidden.

This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous;
therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter, impetuous nation
that marches across the earth’s open spaces
to seize territories not its own.

They are fierce and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.

Then they sweep by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty; their strength is their god.

Their horses are swifter than leopards
and more fierce than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead;
their horsemen come from distant lands.
They fly like an eagle, swooping to devour.

Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God?
My Holy One, You will not die.
Lord, You appointed them to execute judgment;
my Rock, You destined them to punish us.

They mock kings,
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh at every fortress
and build siege ramps to capture it.

You have made mankind
like the fish of the sea,
like marine creatures that have no ruler.

Plague goes before Him,
and pestilence follows in His steps.

All of them come to do violence;
their faces are set in determination.
They gather prisoners like sand.

Will they therefore empty their net
and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

Moreover, wine betrays;
an arrogant man is never at rest.
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
and like Death he is never satisfied.
He gathers all the nations to himself;
he collects all the peoples for himself.

The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet,
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.

Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,
with mockery and riddles about him?
They will say:

Woe to him who amasses what is not his—
how much longer?—
and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.

That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful.

He stands and shakes the earth;
He looks and startles the nations.
The age-old mountains break apart;
the ancient hills sink down.
His pathways are ancient.

I see the tents of Cushan in distress;
the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.

Since you have plundered many nations,
all the peoples who remain will plunder you—
because of human bloodshed
and violence against lands, cities,
and all who live in them.

Are You angry at the rivers, Lord?
Is Your wrath against the rivers?
Or is Your rage against the sea
when You ride on Your horses,
Your victorious chariot?

Won’t your creditors suddenly arise,
and those who disturb you wake up?
Then you will become spoil for them.

Woe to him who dishonestly makes
wealth for his house
to place his nest on high,
to escape from the reach of disaster!

You have planned shame for your house
by wiping out many peoples
and sinning against your own self.

You took the sheath from Your bow;
the arrows are ready to be used with an oath.Selah
You split the earth with rivers.

The mountains see You and shudder;
a downpour of water sweeps by.
The deep roars with its voice
and lifts its waves high.

Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath
and even making them drunk,
in order to look at their nakedness!

Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence,
at the flash of Your flying arrows,
at the brightness of Your shining spear.

Yahweh my Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like those of a deer
and enables me to walk on mountain heights!

For the choir director: on stringed instruments.

Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and founds a town with injustice!

But the Lord is in His holy temple;
let everyone on earth
be silent in His presence.

For the stones will cry out from the wall,
and the rafters will answer them
from the woodwork.

God comes from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.Selah
His splendor covers the heavens,
and the earth is full of His praise.

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. According to Shigionoth.

You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.
You also—drink,
and expose your uncircumcision!
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and utter disgrace will cover your glory.

I heard, and I trembled within;
my lips quivered at the sound.
Rottenness entered my bones;
I trembled where I stood.
Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress
to come against the people invading us.

You march across the earth with indignation;
You trample down the nations in wrath.

You tread the sea with Your horses,
stirring up the great waters.

Lord, I have heard the report about You;
Lord, I stand in awe of Your deeds.
Revive Your work in these years;
make it known in these years.
In Your wrath remember mercy!

You come out to save Your people,
to save Your anointed.
You crush the leader of the house of the wicked
and strip him from foot to neck.Selah

Is it not from the Lord of Hosts
that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire
and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?

What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes idols that cannot speak.

For your violence against Lebanon
will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you
because of your human bloodshed and violence
against lands, cities, and all who live in them.

You pierce his head
with his own spears;
his warriors storm out to scatter us,
gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.

Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!
or to mute stone: Come alive!
Can it teach?
Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,
yet there is no breath in it at all.

yet I will triumph in Yahweh;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,
as the waters cover the sea.

For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous?
Why are You silent
while one who is wicked swallows up
one who is more righteous than himself?

I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.
I will watch to see what He will say to me
and what I should reply about my complaint.

Look at the nations and observe—
be utterly astounded!
For something is taking place in your days
that you will not believe
when you hear about it.

The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.