[Hab 1]
1:1 The ¹burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

¹Or, oracle

1:2 O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save.
1:3 Why dost thou show me iniquity, and ²look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.

²Or, cause me to look upon perverseness

1:4 Therefore the law is slacked, and justice ³doth never go forth; for the wicked doth encompass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted.

³Or, goeth not forth unto victory

1:5 Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for ⁴I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.

⁴Or, one worketh a work

1:6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
1:7 ⁵They are terrible and dreadful; their judgement and their dignity proceed from themselves.

⁵Hb. He, And similarly in vss. 8, 9.

1:8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce that the evening wolves; and their horsemen ⁶press proudly on: yes, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.

⁶Or, spread themselves:

1:9 They come all of them for violence; ⁷the set of their faces is ⁸forwards; and they gather captives as the sand.

⁷Hb. The eagerness (or, assembling) of their faces is forwards;
⁸Or, towards the east;

1:10 ⁹Yes, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.

⁹Or, And they scoff at kings,

1:11 ¹⁰Then shall he sweep by as a wind and shall ¹¹pass over, and be guilty, even he whose might is his god.

¹⁰Or, Then shall the wind sweep by, and he shall pass away,
¹¹Or, transgress,

1:12 Art not thou from of old, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? ¹²thou diest not. O Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast established him for correction.

¹²Sopherim changed to we shall not die.

1:13 Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he;
1:14 and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
1:15 He taketh up all of them with the angle, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad.
1:16 Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his food ¹³plenteous.

¹³Hb. fat.

1:17 Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually?
[Hab 2]
2:1 I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the ¹⁴tower, and will look forth to see what he will speak ¹⁵by me, and what I shall answer concerning my complaint.

¹⁴Or, fortress
¹⁵Or, with

2:2 And Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tablets, ¹⁶that he may run that readeth it.

¹⁶Or, that one may read it on the run. [Thusly, J.M. Powis Smith, in An American Translation, 1931, endeavors to be both literal and idiomatic.]

2:3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it ¹⁷hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it because it will surely come, it will not delay.

¹⁷Hb. panteth

2:4 Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not ¹⁸upright in him; but the righteous shall live ¹⁹by his faith.

¹⁸Or, straight
¹⁹Or, in his faithfulness.

2:5 ²⁰Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man, ²¹that keepeth not at home, who enlargeth his ²²soul as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples.

²⁰Or, and also because his wine is treacherous, he is a haughty man,
²¹Or, he shall not abide,
²²Or, desire or, appetite Hb. nephesh

2:6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting ²³proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! How long? And that ladeth himself with ²⁴pledges!

²³Or, riddle
²⁴Variorum Bible says, When the Hb. word for pledges is divided into two, it means thick clay (or, …mud).

2:7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall ²⁵bite thee, and awake that shall ²⁶vex thee, and thou shalt be booty unto them?

²⁵Or, exact usury of thee
²⁶Or, toss thee to and fro

2:8 Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder thee, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein.
2:9 Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!
2:10 Thou hast devised shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against ²⁷thy soul.

²⁷Or, self. or, being. Hb. nephesh.

2:11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
2:12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!
2:13 Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?
2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.
2:15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, to thee that ²⁸addest thy ²⁹venom, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!

²⁸Or, pourest
²⁹Or, fury

2:16 Thou are filled with shame, and not glory; drink thou also, and ³⁰be as one uncircumcised; the cup of Jehovah’s right hand shall come round unto thee, and foul shame shall be upon thy glory.

³⁰Or, let thy foreskin be uncovered

2:17 For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of the beasts, which made them afraid; because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein.
2:18 What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form, trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
2:19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
2:20 But Jehovah is in his holy temple: ³¹let all the earth keep silence before him.

³¹Hb. be silent before him, all the earth.

[Hab 3]
3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to Shigionoth.
3:2 O Jehovah, I have heard ³²the report of thee, and ³³am afraid: O Jehovah, revive thy work in the midst of the years; In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.

³²Or, thy fame
³³Or, was

3:3 God ³⁴came from Teman, And the Holy One from mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of his praise.

³⁴Or, cometh And similarly to the end of vs. 15.

3:4 And his brightness was as the light; He had ³⁵rays coming forth ³⁶from his hand; And there was the hiding of his power.

³⁵Hb. horns
³⁶Or, at his side;

3:5 Before him went the pestilence, And ³⁷fiery bolts went forth at his feet.

³⁷Or, burning coals

3:6 He stood, and ³⁸measured the earth; He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; And the eternal mountains were scattered; The everlasting hills did bow; ³⁹His goings were as of old.

³⁸Or, shook
³⁹Or, his ways are everlasting.

3:7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
3:8 Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers? Was thine anger against the rivers, Or thy wrath against the sea, That thou didst ride upon the horses, Upon thy chariots of salvation?
3:9 Thy bow was made quite bare; ⁴⁰The oaths to the tribes were a sure word. [Selah Thou didst cleave the earth with the rivers.

⁴⁰Or, Sworn were the chastisements (Hb. rods) of thy word. or, Seven times are the chastisements…

3:10 The mountains saw thee, and ⁴¹were afraid; The tempest of waters passed by; The deep uttered its voice, And lifted up its hands on high.

⁴¹Or, were in pain;

3:11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation, At the light of thine arrows as they went, At the shining of thy glittering spear.
3:12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation; Thou didst thresh the nations in anger.
3:13 Thou ⁴²wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, ⁴³For the salvation of thine anointed; ⁴⁴Thou ⁴⁵woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked man, Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck.

⁴²Or, art come
⁴³Or, For salvation (or, victory) with thine anointed;
⁴⁴Or, Thou didst smite off the head from the house of the wicked man,
⁴⁵Or, hast wounded

3:14 [Selah Thou ⁴⁶didst pierce with his own staves the head of his ⁴⁷warriors: They came as a whirlwind to scatter me; Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

⁴⁶Or, hast pierced
⁴⁷Or, hordes or, villages

3:15 Thou ⁴⁸didst tread the sea with thy horses, The ⁴⁹heap of mighty waters.

⁴⁸Or, hast trodden
⁴⁹Or, surge

3:16 I heard, and my body trembled, My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entereth into my bones, and I tremble in my place; Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, ⁵⁰For the coming up of the people that invadeth us.

⁵⁰Or, When there shall come up against the people he that invadeth them.

3:17 For though the fig-tree shall not flourish, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labor of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no food; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
3:18 Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
3:19 Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength; And he maketh my feet like hinds feet, And will make me to walk upon my high places.