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Habakkuk
חבקוק
Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, published by JPS
https://jps.org/books/tanakh-the-holy-scriptures-blue/

Habakkuk



Chapter 1

The pronouncement made by the prophet Habakkuk.<br>
How long, O L<small>ORD</small>, shall I cry out<br>And You not listen,<br>Shall I shout to You, “Violence!”<br>And You not save?
Why do You make me see iniquity<br><sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Targum and Syriac “So that I look.”</i>[Why] do You look<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup> upon wrong?—<br>Raiding and violence are before me,<br>Strife continues and contention <sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>goes on.<sup class="endFootnote">-b</sup>
That is why decision fails<br>And justice never emerges;<br>For the villain hedges in the just man—<br>Therefore judgment emerges deformed.<br>
“Look among the nations,<br>Observe well and be utterly astounded;<br>For a work is being wrought in your days<br>Which you would not believe if it were told.
For lo, I am raising up the Chaldeans,<br>That fierce, impetuous nation,<br>Who cross the earth’s wide spaces<br>To seize homes not their own.
They are terrible, dreadful;<br><sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “Their law and majesty proceed from themselves.”</i>They make their own laws and rules.<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup>
Their horses are swifter than leopards,<br>Fleeter than wolves of the steppe.<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Understanding ‘ereb as synonymous with ‘arabah; cf. Jer. 5.6.</i><br>Their steeds gallop—<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">The Qumran Habakkuk commentary (hereafter 1QpHab) reads “and spread [wings].”</i>their steeds<sup class="endFootnote">-e</sup><br>Come flying from afar.<br>Like vultures rushing toward food,
They all come, bent on rapine.<br>The thrust<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> of their van is forward,<br>And they amass captives like sand.
Kings they hold in derision,<br>And princes are a joke to them;<br>They laugh at every fortress,<br>They pile up earth and capture it.
<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>Then they pass on like the wind,<br>They transgress and incur guilt,<br>For they ascribe their might to their god.”<sup class="endFootnote">-b</sup><br>
You, O L<small>ORD</small>, are from everlasting;<br>My holy God, You<sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">Heb. “we,” a change made by a pious scribe.</i> never die.<br>O L<small>ORD</small>, You have made them a subject of contention;<br>O Rock, You have made them a cause for complaint.
You whose eyes are too pure to look upon evil,<br>Who cannot countenance wrongdoing,<br>Why do You countenance treachery,<br>And stand by idle<br>While the one in the wrong devours<br>The one in the right?
You have made mankind like the fish of the sea,<br>Like creeping things <sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">1QpHab “[for him] to rule over”; cf. Gen. 1.28; Ps. 8.7–9.</i>that have no ruler.<sup class="endFootnote">-g</sup>
He has fished them all up with a line,<br>Pulled them up in his trawl,<br>And gathered them in his net.<br>That is why he rejoices and is glad.
That is why he sacrifices to his trawl<br>And makes offerings to his net;<br>For through them his portion<sup class="footnote-marker">h</sup><i class="footnote">Emendation yields “bread”; cf. Gen. 49.20.</i> is rich<br>And his nourishment fat.
Shall he then keep <sup class="footnote-marker">i</sup><i class="footnote">1QpHab “drawing his sword.”</i>emptying his trawl,<sup class="endFootnote">-i</sup><br>And slaying nations without pity?

Chapter 2

I will stand on my watch,<br>Take up my station at the<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">1QpHab reads “my.”</i> post,<br>And wait to see what He will say to me,<br>What He<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Taking ’ashib as equivalent to yashib.</i> will reply to my complaint.<br>
The L<small>ORD</small> answered me and said:<br>Write the prophecy down,<br>Inscribe it clearly on tablets,<br>So that it can be read easily.
For <sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Emendation yields “the prophecy is a witness.”</i>there is yet a prophecy<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup> for a set term,<br>A truthful witness for a time that will come.<br>Even if it tarries, wait for it still;<br>For it will surely come, without delay:
<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Lo, there is a reward for the upright—/ the life breath within him—/ And…”</i>Lo, his spirit within him is puffed up, not upright,<br>But<sup class="endFootnote">-d</sup> the righteous man is rewarded with life<br>For his fidelity.
How much less then shall the defiant<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Connecting hyyn (1 QpHab hwn) with the root hwn, Deut. 1.41; for the thought cf. Prov. 11.31. Meaning of rest of line uncertain.</i> go unpunished,<br>The treacherous, arrogant man<br>Who has made his maw as wide as Sheol,<br>Who is as insatiable as Death,<br>Who has harvested all the nations<br>And gathered in all the peoples!
Surely all these shall pronounce a satire against him,<br>A pointed epigram concerning him.<br>They shall say:<br>Ah, you who pile up what is not yours—<br>How much longer?—<br>And make ever heavier your load of indebtedness!
Right suddenly will your creditors<sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “usurers.”</i> arise,<br>And those who remind<sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “shake”; the same verb means “to call to mind” in Samaritan Aramaic.</i> you will awake,<br>And you will be despoiled by them.
Because you plundered many nations,<br>All surviving peoples shall plunder you—<br>For crimes against men and wrongs against lands,<br>Against cities and all their inhabitants.<br>
Ah, you who have acquired gains<br>To the detriment of your own house,<br><sup class="footnote-marker">h</sup><i class="footnote">Brought up from v. 10 for clarity.</i>Who have destroyed many peoples<sup class="endFootnote">-h</sup><br>In order to set your nest on high<br>To escape disaster!
You have plotted shame for your own house,<br>And guilt for yourself;
For a stone shall cry out from the wall,<br>And a rafter shall answer it from the woodwork.<br>
Ah, you who have built a town with crime,<br>And established a city with infamy,
So that peoples have had to toil for the fire,<sup class="footnote-marker">i</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., without profit.</i><br>And nations to weary themselves for naught!<br><sup class="footnote-marker">j</sup><i class="footnote">Connection with the next four lines uncertain; they might read better after v. 20.</i>Behold, it is from the L<small>ORD</small> of Hosts:
<sup class="footnote-marker">k</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Isa. 11.9.</i>For the earth shall be filled<br>With awe for the glory of the L<small>ORD</small><br>As water covers the sea.<sup class="endFootnote">-k</sup><br>
Ah, you who make others drink to intoxication<br><sup class="footnote-marker">l</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “from the bowl of.”</i>As you pour out<sup class="endFootnote">-l</sup> your wrath,<br>In order to gaze upon their nakedness!<sup class="footnote-marker">m</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Gen. 9.21–22.</i>
You shall be sated with shame<br>Rather than glory:<br>Drink in your turn and stagger!<sup class="footnote-marker">n</sup><i class="footnote">Emendation yields “uncover yourself”; cf. Lam. 4.21.</i><br>The cup in the right hand of the L<small>ORD</small><br>Shall come around to you,<br>And <sup class="footnote-marker">o</sup><i class="footnote">Or “vomit of disgrace upon.”</i>disgrace to<sup class="endFootnote">-o</sup> your glory.
<sup class="footnote-marker">p</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>For the lawlessness against Lebanon shall cover you,<br>The destruction of beasts shall overwhelm you<sup class="endFootnote">-p</sup>—<br>For crimes against men and wrongs against lands,<br>Against cities and all their inhabitants.
<sup class="footnote-marker">q</sup><i class="footnote">This verse would read well after v. 19.</i>What has the carved image availed,<br>That he who fashioned it has carved it<br>For an image and a false oracle—<br>That he who fashioned his product has trusted in it,<br>Making dumb idols?
Ah, you who say, “Wake up” to wood,<br>“Awaken,” to inert stone!<br>Can that give an oracle?<br>Why, it is encased in gold and silver,<br>But there is no breath inside it.
But the L<small>ORD</small> in His holy Abode—<br>Be silent before Him all the earth!

Chapter 3

A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. In the mode of <i>Shigionoth</i>.<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning uncertain; perhaps “psalms of supplication”; cf. Ps. 7.1.</i><br>
O L<small>ORD</small>! I have learned of Your renown;<br>I am awed, O L<small>ORD</small>, by Your deeds.<br>Renew them in these years,<br>Oh, make them known in these years!<br>Though angry, may You remember compassion.<br>
God is coming from Teman,<br>The Holy One from Mount Paran. <i>Selah</i>.<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">A musical direction of uncertain meaning.</i><br>His majesty covers the skies,<br>His splendor fills the earth:
<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>It is a brilliant light<br>Which gives off rays on every side—<br>And therein His glory is enveloped.<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup>
Pestilence marches before Him,<br>And plague comes forth at His heels.
When He stands, He makes the earth shake;<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Targum and Septuagint.</i><br>When He glances, He makes nations tremble.<br>The age-old mountains are shattered,<br>The primeval hills sink low.<br><sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>His are the ancient routes:
As a scene of havoc I behold<sup>c</sup><br>The tents of Cushan;<br>Shaken are the pavilions<br>Of the land of Midian!<br>
Are You wroth, O L<small>ORD</small>, with Neharim?<br>Is Your anger against Neharim,<br>Your rage against Yam<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Neharim (lit. “Floods”) and Yam (lit. “Sea”) were marine monsters vanquished by the Lord in hoary antiquity. On Yam see Ps. 74.13; Job 7.12. A being called both Yam and Nahar figures in early Canaanite literature.</i>—<br>That You are driving Your steeds,<br>Your victorious chariot?
All bared and ready is Your bow.<br><sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>Sworn are the rods of the word.<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup> <i>Selah</i>.<br>You make the earth burst into streams,
The mountains rock at the sight of You,<br>A torrent of rain comes down;<br>Loud roars the deep,<br><sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>The sky returns the echo.<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup>
Sun [and] moon stand still on high<br>As Your arrows fly in brightness,<br>Your flashing spear in brilliance.
You tread the earth in rage,<br>You trample nations in fury.
You have come forth to deliver Your people,<br>To deliver Your anointed.<sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., the king of Judah.</i><br><sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">Emendation yields: You will strike the heads of men of evil, / Smash the pates of Your adversaries. Selah. / You will crack their skulls with Your bludgeon; / Dispersed, blown like chaff shall be they / Who lie in wait to swallow the innocent, / To devour the poor in an ambush.</i>You will smash the roof of the villain’s house,<br>Raze it from foundation to top. <i>Selah</i>.
You will crack [his] skull with Your<sup class="footnote-marker">h</sup><i class="footnote">Heb. “His.”</i> bludgeon;<br>Blown away shall be his warriors,<br>Whose delight is to crush me suddenly,<br>To devour a poor man in an ambush.<sup class="endFootnote">-g</sup>
<sup class="footnote-marker">i</sup><i class="footnote">Or: 15You will make Your steeds tread the sea, / Stirring the mighty waters, / 16That I may have rest on a day of distress, / When a people come up to attack us. / But this report made my bowels quake, / These tidings made my lips quiver; / Rot entered into my bone, / I trembled where I stood: / 17That the fig tree does not bud, / And no yield is on the vine; / The olive crop has failed, / And the fields produce no grain; / The sheep have vanished from the fold, / And no cattle are in the pen.</i>You will make Your steeds tread the sea,<br>Stirring the mighty waters.
I heard and my bowels quaked,<br>My lips quivered at the sound;<br>Rot entered into my bone,<br>I trembled where I stood.<br>Yet I wait calmly for the day of distress,<br>For a people to come to attack us.
Though the fig tree does not bud<br>And no yield is on the vine,<br>Though the olive crop has failed<br>And the fields produce no grain,<br>Though sheep have vanished from the fold<br>And no cattle are in the pen,<sup class="endFootnote">-i</sup>
Yet will I rejoice in the L<small>ORD</small>,<br>Exult in the God who delivers me.
My Lord G<small>OD</small> is my strength:<br>He makes my feet like the deer’s<br>And lets me stride upon the heights.<br><br><sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>For the leader; with instrumental music.<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup>