[Habakkuk 1]
1:1 The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision:
1:2 How long, O Yahweh, have I called out, and thou wouldst not hear me? Have I kept crying unto thee of violence, and thou wouldst not save?
1:3 Wherefore shouldst thou let me see iniquity, and, wrong, shouldst let me behold, and, force and violence, be straight before me, -- and there should have ever been someone who, contention and strife, would uphold?
1:4 For which cause, benumbed is the law, and there is never any going forth of justice, -- for, the lawless, doth circumvent the righteous, for which cause, justice doth go forth perverted?
1:5 Behold ye, among the nations, and look around, Yea stand stock still -- stare, -- for, a work, is being wrought in your days, ye will not believe, when it is recounted.
1:6 For, behold me! raising up the Chaldeans, the bitter and headlong nation, -- that marcheth to the breadths of the earth, to take possession of habitations, not his.
1:7 Awful and fearful, is he, -- from himself, his decision and his uprising, proceed.
1:8 Then, swifter than leopards, are his horses, and, more sharply they attack, than evening wolves, and forward have leapt his chargers, -- Yea, his chargers, from afar, will come in, they will fly as an eagle hath hastened to devour.
1:9 Solely for violence, will he come, the intent of their faces, is -- To the east! And he hath gathered, as the sand, a captive host;
1:10 And, he, over kings, will make merry, and, nobles, will be a scorn to him: he, at any fortress, will laugh, once he hath heaped up dust, he hath captured it!
1:11 Then, hath he become arrogant in spirit, and hath committed excess, and so is guilty, -- this his violence, is due to his god.
1:12 Art not, thou, from of old, O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One? Thou diest not! O Yahweh, to judgment, hast thou appointed him, and, O Rock, to correction, hast thou devoted him:
1:13 [Thou] whose eyes are too pure to look with approval on wrong, to respect oppression, canst not endure, -- Wherefore, shouldst thou respect the treacherous? Be silent, when the lawless, swalloweth up, one more righteous than he?
1:14 So wouldst thou have made Men, like the fishes of the sea, -- like the creeping thing that hath no ruler over it:
1:15 All of which, with a hook, one bringeth up, raketh together with his drag, and hath gathered with his net, --
1:16 On which account, he is glad and exulteth: on which account, he sacrificeth to his Net, and burneth incense to his Drag; because, thereby, rich, is his portion, and his food -- fatness!
1:17 Shall he, on this account, empty his net? And, the continual slaying of nations, deem to be no pity?
[Habakkuk 2]
2:1 Upon my watch-tower, will I stand, and will station myself upon the bulwark, -- so will I keep outlook, to see -- what he will speak with me, and what I shall reply, when I am reproved.
2:2 Then Yahweh answered me, and said, Write the vision, Yea, make it plain on tablets, that one may swiftly read it;
2:3 For yet is the vision for an appointed time, still, it presseth towards an end, and will not deceive, -- if it tarry, wait thou for it, for it, surely cometh, -- will not be too late.
2:4 Lo! as for the conceited one, crooked is his soul within him,- but, one who is righteous, by his faithfulness, shall live.
2:5 Moreover also, when wine betrayeth, a man, is arrogant, and findeth no rest, -- because he hath enlarged, like hades, his desire, yea, he, is like death, and cannot be satisfied, -- but hath gathered unto himself, all the nations, and assembled unto himself, all the peoples.
2:6 Shall not, these, all of them, against him, take up -- a taunt, a mocking poem, enigmatical sentences -- concerning him? And say -- Alas! for him who maketh abundance in what is not his own, How long? that he should be burdening himself with heavy debts?
2:7 Will not thy creditors, suddenly rise up? and they who shall violently shake thee, all at once become active? Then shalt thou serve for booties, unto them!
2:8 Because, thou, hast plundered many nations, all the residue of the peoples, shall plunder thee, -- for shedding Human blood, and doing violence to the earth, to the city, and to all who dwell therein.
2:9 Alas! for him who extorteth an extortion of wrong for his own house, -- that he may set on high his nest, that he may be delivered from the grasp of calamity.
2:10 Thou hast counseled shame to thy house -- making an end of many peoples, and endangering thine own life.
2:11 Surely, the stone out of the wall, will make outcry, -- and, the tie out of the timber, will answer it.
2:12 Alas! for him who buildeth a city with deeds of blood, -- and establisheth a town with perversity.
2:13 Lo! is it not from Yahweh of hosts -- that peoples labour for fire, and, populations, for emptiness, weary themselves?
2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, -- as, the waters, cover the sea.
2:15 Alas! for him who causeth his neighbour to drink, from the goblet of thy fury, and also, making him drunk, -- to the end thou mayest gloat over their parts of shame.
2:16 Thou art sated with contempt, more than glory, drink, thou too, and expose thy person, -- the cup of the right hand of Yahweh, shall come round unto thee, and ignominious filth be upon thy glory;
2:17 For, the violence [done] to Lebanon, shall cover thee, and wasting by wild beasts shall cause them terror, -- for shedding Human blood, and doing violence to the earth, to the city, and to all who dwell therein.
2:18 What hath a carved image, profited, though the fashioner thereof, carved it? a molten image, and a teacher of falsehood, -- though the fashioner of his fashioned thing trusted therein? that men should make Dumb Nonentities!
2:19 Alas! for him who saith to wood, Awake, bestir thee! to a silent stone, he, shall teach! Though he is overlaid with gold and silver, yet, no spirit whatsoever, is in him!
2:20 Howbeit, Yahweh, is in his holy temple, -- Hush before him, all the earth.
[Habakkuk 3]
3:1 A prayer by Habakkuk the prophet, -- in the manner of an Ode.
3:2 O Yahweh, I have heard tidings of thee, I am afraid. O Yahweh! Thy work -- in the midst of the years, O revive it, in the midst of the years, wilt thou make known? In trouble, wilt thou remember, compassion?
3:3 GOD, from Teman, cometh in, and, the Holy One, from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendour, hath covered the heavens, and, his praise, hath filled the earth:
3:4 And, a brightness, as light, appeareth, Rays, out of his hand, hath he, -- and, there, is the hiding of his power.
3:5 Before him, marcheth pestilence, -- and fever, goeth forth, at his feet:
3:6 He hath stood and measured the earth, he hath looked, and caused nations to tremble, and, scattered as dust, are the perpetual mountains, and, sunk, are the age-abiding hills, -- Forthgoings age-abiding, are his.
3:7 Under distress, saw I the tents of Ethiopia, -- tremble, do the curtains of the land of Midian.
3:8 Against the rivers, is Yahweh wroth? Against the rivers, is thine anger? Against the sea, is thine indignation? For thou wilt ride on Thy horses, Thy chariots, [shall be] salvation!
3:9 To nakedness, is bared thy bow, oaths of chastisement -- song! Selah. With rivers, thou dost cleave open the land.
3:10 The mountains, have seen thee -- they tremble, a downpour of waters, hath passed along, -- the roaring deep, hath given forth, his voice, on high -- his hand, hath he uplifted.
3:11 Sun, moon, have stood still, on high, -- like light, thine arrows, speed along, like brightness, is the flash of thy spear.
3:12 In wrath, dost thou stride through the land, -- in anger, dost thou thresh the nations.
3:13 Thou hast come forth to the salvation of thy people, to salvation, with thine Anointed One, -- Thou hast crushed the Head out of the house of the lawless one, baring the foundation up to the neck, Selah.
3:14 Thou hast pierced, with his own staves, the head of his chiefs, they storm along, to scatter me, -- their exultant thought, is, in very deed, to devour the oppressed one, in a secret place!
3:15 Thou hast driven, into the sea, thy chariot-horses. Foaming are the mighty waters!
3:16 I heard, and I trembled within me, at the voice, my lips, quivered, decay, entered, my bones, and, in my limbs, I trembled, -- though I am to find rest, in the day of distress, when their invader, cometh up against the people.
3:17 Though, the fig-tree, should not blossom, and there be no sprouting in the vines, the yield of the olive, should have deceived, and, the fields, not have brought forth food, -- the flock, have been consumed out of the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls,
3:18 Yet, I, in Yahweh, will rejoice, -- I will exult in the God of my salvation.
3:19 Yahweh, My Lord, is my strength, therefore hath he made my feet like hinds, and, upon my high places, will he cause me to march along. To the chief musician, on my double harp.