| NET Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1The following is the message which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: | 1The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. |
| 2How long, LORD, must I cry for help? But you do not listen! I call out to you, "Violence!" But you do not intervene! | 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 do you force me to witness injustice? Why do you put up with wrongdoing? Destruction and violence confront me; conflict is present and one must endure strife. | 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. |
| 4For this reason the law lacks power, and justice is never carried out. Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent. For this reason justice is perverted. | 4So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. |
| 5"Look at the nations and pay attention! You will be shocked and amazed! For I will do something in your lifetime that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. | 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. |
| 6Look, I am about to empower the Babylonians, that ruthless and greedy nation. They sweep across the surface of the earth, seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them. | 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 frightening and terrifying; they decide for themselves what is right. | 7They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. |
| 8Their horses are faster than leopards and more alert than wolves in the desert. Their horses gallop, their horses come a great distance; like a vulture they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. | 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. |
| 9All of them intend to do violence; every face is determined. They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. | 9They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. |
| 10They mock kings and laugh at rulers. They laugh at every fortified city; they build siege ramps and capture them. | 10At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. |
| 11They sweep by like the wind and pass on. But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty." | 11Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!” |
| 12LORD, you have been active from ancient times; my sovereign God, you are immortal. LORD, you have made them your instrument of judgment. Protector, you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment. | 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. |
| 13You are too just to tolerate evil; you are unable to condone wrongdoing. So why do you put up with such treacherous people? Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour those more righteous than they are? | 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? |
| 14You made people like fish in the sea, like animals in the sea that have no ruler. | 14You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler. |
| 15The Babylonian tyrant pulls them all up with a fishhook; he hauls them in with his throw net. When he catches them in his dragnet, he is very happy. | 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. |
| 16Because of his success he offers sacrifices to his throw net and burns incense to his dragnet; for because of them he has plenty of food, and more than enough to eat. | 16Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich. |
| 17Will he then continue to fill and empty his throw net? Will he always destroy nations and spare none? | 17Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever? |
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