| King James Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. | 1The pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk perceived. |
| 2O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! | 2"How long, LORD, must I cry out for help, but you won't listen? I'm crying out to you, 'Violence!' but you aren't providing deliverance. |
| 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 are you forcing me to look at iniquity and to stare at wickedness? Social havoc and oppression are all around me; there are legal conflicts, and disputes abound. |
| 4Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. | 4Therefore, the Law has become paralyzed, and justice never comes about. Because criminals outnumber the righteous, whenever judgments are issued, they come out crooked." |
| 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 out at the nations and pay attention! Be astounded! Be really astounded! Because something is happening in your lifetime that you won't believe, even if it were described down to the smallest detail. |
| 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. | 6Watch out! For I am bringing in the Chaldeans, that cruel and impetuous people, who sweep across the earth dispossessing people from homes not their own. |
| 7They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. | 7They are terrible and fearsome; their brand of justice and sense of honor derive only 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, and more cunning than wolves that attack at night. Their horsemen are galloping as they approach from far away. They swoop in like ravenous vultures. |
| 9They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. | 9"They all come to oppress— hordes of them, their faces pressing onward— they take prisoners as numerous as the desert 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. | 10They make fun of kings, deriding those who rule. They laugh at all of the fortified places, constructing ramps to seize them. |
| 11Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. | 11Then like the wind sweeping by they will pass through— they're guilty because they say their power 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. | 12"Haven't you existed forever, LORD my God, my Holy One? We won't die! LORD, you've prepared them for judgment; Rock, you've sentenced them to correction. |
| 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? | 13Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil; and you cannot tolerate wickedness. So why do you tolerate the treacherous? And why do you stay silent while the wicked devour those who are more righteous than they are? |
| 14And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? | 14"You have fashioned mankind like fish in the ocean, like creeping 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. | 15The adversary captures them with a hook, gathering them up in a fishing net. He collects them with a dragnet, rejoicing and gloating over his catch. |
| 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 fishing net, and burns incense in the presence of his dragnet, because by them his assets increase and he gets plenty of food. |
| 17Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations? | 17Is he to continue to empty his fishing net? Will he ever stop killing entire nations without mercy?" |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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