| King James Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. | 1The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. |
| 2O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! | 2O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? |
| 3Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. | 3Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. |
| 4Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. | 4So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. |
| 5Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. | 5“Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. |
| 6For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. | 6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. |
| 7They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. | 7They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. |
| 8Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. | 8Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. |
| 9They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. | 9They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. |
| 10And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it. | 10At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. |
| 11Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. | 11Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!” |
| 12Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. | 12Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. |
| 13Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? | 13You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? |
| 14And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? | 14You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler. |
| 15They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. | 15He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad. |
| 16Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. | 16Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich. |
| 17Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations? | 17Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever? |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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