The Book of the Prophet Habakkuk

The Book of Habakkuk presents a unique dialogue between a prophet and God regarding the problem of evil and the delay of divine justice. Unlike other prophets who speak to the people, Habakkuk speaks to the Lord about his confusion over why the wicked seem to prosper while the righteous suffer. We see a transition from questioning and doubt to a profound statement of trust that the just shall live by faith. This narrative encourages us to bring our honest questions to God and to wait with patience for His response.

The second half of the book features a powerful prayer of praise that celebrates the triumph of God over all the forces of chaos and destruction. We are reminded that even when the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, we can still rejoice in the Lord who is our strength. This message of joy in the midst of hardship is a central part of our spiritual heritage. The Book of Habakkuk teaches us to find our security in the character of God rather than in our changing circumstances.

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Chapters

1 2 3

Chapter 1

¹The burden that Habakkuk the prophet saw. ? ²How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will not heed? Shall I shout to you while suffering violence, and you will not save? ? ³Why have you revealed to me iniquity and hardship, to see plunder and injustice opposite me? And there has been judgment, but the opposition is more powerful. ? ⁴Because of this, the law has been torn apart, and judgment does not persevere to its conclusion. For the impious prevail against the just. Because of this, a perverse judgment is issued. ? ⁵Gaze among the nations, and see. Admire, and be astounded. For a work has been done in your days, which no one will believe when it is told. ? ⁶For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift people, marching across the width of the earth, to possess tabernacles not their own. ? ⁷It is dreadful and terrible. From themselves, judgment and their burden will issue. ? ⁸Their horses are more nimble than leopards and swifter than wolves in the evening; their horsemen will spread out. And then their horsemen will approach from far away; they will fly like the eagle, hurrying to devour. ? ⁹They will all approach towards the prey; their face is like a burning wind. And they will gather captives together like sand. ? ¹⁰And concerning kings, he will triumph, and sovereign rulers will be his laughingstock, and he will laugh over every fortress, and he will transport a rampart and seize it. ? ¹¹Then his spirit will be altered, and he will cross over and fall. Such is his strength from his god. ? ¹²Have you not existed from the beginning, Lord my God, my holy one, and so we shall not die? Lord, you have stationed him for judgment, and you have establish that his strength will be swept away. ? ¹³Your eyes are pure, you do not behold evil, and you cannot look towards iniquity. Why do you look upon the agents of iniquity, and remain silent, while the impious is devouring one who is more just than himself? ? ¹⁴And you will make men like the fish of the sea and like the creeping things that have no ruler. ? ¹⁵He lifted up everything with his hook. He drew them in with his dragnet, and gathered them into his netting. Over this, he will rejoice and exult. ? ¹⁶For this reason, he will offer victims to his dragnet, and he will sacrifice to his netting. For through them, his portion has been made fat, and his meals elite. ? ¹⁷Because of this, therefore, he expands his dragnet and will not be lenient in continually putting to death the peoples. ?

Chapter 2

¹I will stand firm during my watch, and fix my position over the fortification. And I will observe carefully, to see what might be said to me and what I might respond to my opponent. ? ²And the Lord responded to me and said: Write the vision and explain it on tablets, so that he who reads it may run through it. ? ³For as yet the vision is far off, and it will appear in the end, and it will not lie. If it expresses any delay, wait for it. For it is arriving and it will arrive, and it will not be hindered. ? ⁴Behold, he who is unbelieving, his soul will not be right within himself; but he who is just shall live in his faith. ? ⁵And in the manner that wine deceives the heavy drinker, so will the arrogant man be deceived, and he will not be honored. He has enlarged his life like hellfire, and himself like death, and he is never fulfilled. And he will gather to himself all nations, and he will amass for himself all peoples. ? ⁶Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and an enigmatic utterance about him? And it will be said, �Woe to him who increases what is not his own.� How long, then, will he lay down dense clay against himself? ? ⁷Shall they not suddenly rise up, who would bite you, and be stirred up, who would tear you, so that you will be a prey for them? ? ⁸Because you have despoiled many peoples, all those who are left of the people shall despoil you, because of the blood of men, and the iniquity of the earth, of the city and all who dwell therein. ? ⁹Woe to him who gathers together an evil greed for his house, so that his nest may be exalted, and thinking that he might free himself from the hand of evil. ? ¹⁰You have devised confusion for your house, you have cut to pieces many peoples, and your soul has sinned. ? ¹¹For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the wood that is between the joints of the building will respond. ? ¹²Woe to him who builds a town with blood and prepares a city by iniquity. ? ¹³Are not these things before the Lord of hosts? For the people will labor amid a great fire, and the nations will labor in emptiness, and they will fail. ? ¹⁴For the earth shall be filled, that they might know the glory of the Lord, like the waters spreading over the sea. ? ¹⁵Woe to anyone who gives a drink to a friend, releasing a drug and inebriating, so as to look upon their nakedness. ? ¹⁶You are filled with disgrace in place of glory. So then, drink and fall fast asleep, for the cup of the right hand of the Lord will surround you, and a disgraceful vomit will cover your glory. ? ¹⁷For the iniquity of Lebanon will cover you, and the devastation of animals which will deter them from the blood of men, and the iniquity of the earth and the city, and of all who dwell therein. ? ¹⁸Of what benefit is the graven image? For its maker has formed it, a molten and imaginary deception. For its maker has hoped in a figment of his own creation, so as to make a dumb likeness. ? ¹⁹Woe to him who says to wood, �Awaken,� to the silent stone, �Arise.� Is it able to teach? Behold, it has been entirely covered with gold and silver; and there is no spirit at all in its inner workings. ? ²⁰But the Lord is in his holy temple. May all the earth be silent before his face. ?

Chapter 3

¹A Prayer of Habakkuk the Prophet on Behalf of Those Who Are Ignorant. ? ²Lord, I heard what has been said about you, and I was afraid. Lord, your work, in the midst of years, revive it. In the midst of years, you will make it known. When you have become angry, you will remember mercy. ? ³God will come from the south, and the Holy One from mount Pharan. His glory has covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise. ? ⁴His brightness shall be like the light; horns are in his hands. There, his strength has been hidden. ? ⁵Death will go forth before his face. And the devil shall depart before his feet. ? ⁶He stood, and measured the earth. He looked, and dissolved the Gentiles. And the mountains of ages past have been shattered. The hills of the world became curved by the journeys of his eternity. ? ⁷I saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity; the tent-skins of the land of Midian will be thrown into confusion. ? ⁸Could you have been angry with the rivers, Lord? Or was your fury within the rivers, or your indignation in the sea? He will ascend upon your horses, and your four-horse chariots are salvation. ? ⁹Being stirred up, you will take up your bow, the oaths you have spoken to the tribes. You will split apart the Rivers of the earth. ? ¹⁰They saw you, and the mountains grieved. The great body of waters crossed over. The abyss uttered its voice. The pinnacle lifted up its hands. ? ¹¹The sun and the moon have stood firm in their dwelling place; with the light of your arrows, they shall go forth in the splendor of your flashing spear. ? ¹²With a roar, you will trample the earth. In your fury, you will cause the nations to be stupefied. ? ¹³You have gone forth for the salvation of your people, for salvation with your Christ. You struck the head of the house of the impious. You have laid bare his foundation all the way to the neck. ? ¹⁴You have cursed his scepters, the head of his warriors, those who approached like a whirlwind so as to scatter me. Their exultation was like one who devours the poor in secret. ? ¹⁵You made a way in the sea for your horses, in the mud of great waters. ? ¹⁶I heard, and my stomach became troubled. My lips trembled at the voice. Let decay enter into my bones and gush forth from within me. Then I may rest in the day of tribulation, so that I may ascend to our people well-prepared. ? ¹⁷For the fig tree will not flower, and there will be no bud on the vines. The labor of the olive tree will be misleading, and the farmland will produce no food. The sheep will be cut off from the sheepfold, and there will be no herd at the manger. ? ¹⁸But I will rejoice in the Lord; and I will exult in God my Jesus. ? ¹⁹The Lord God is my strength. And he will set my feet like those of the stag. And he, the victor, will lead me beyond my high places while singing psalms. ?