Habakkuk 2

1 I will a take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and b look out to see c what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

2 And the  Lord answered me:

d “Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
 3 For still e the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow f wait for it;
g it will surely come; it will not delay.
 4  “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but h the righteous shall live by his faith. ▼
▼ Or faithfulness

 5  “Moreover, wine ▼
▼ Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth
 is k a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest. ▼
▼ The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain

His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death m he has never enough.
n He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”

Woe to the Chaldeans

6 Shall not all these o take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

p “Woe to him q who heaps up what is not his own—
for r how long?—
and s loads himself with pledges!”
 7  t Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be spoil for them.
 8  u Because you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
v for the blood of man and w violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
 9  x “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
y to z set his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
 10 You have devised shame for your house
aa by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
 11 For ab the stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
 12  ac “Woe to him ad who builds a town with blood
and founds a city on iniquity!
 13 Behold, is it not from the  Lord of hosts
that ae peoples labor merely for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
 14  af For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of ag the glory of the  Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
 15  ah “Woe to him ai who makes his neighbors drink—
you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
in order to gaze aj at their nakedness!
 16 You will have your fill ak of shame instead of glory.
al Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
am The cup in the  Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and an utter shame will come upon your glory!
 17  ao The violence ap done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
aq for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
 18  ar “What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, as a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes at speechless idols!
 19  au Woe to him av who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and aw there is no breath at all in it.
 20 But ax the  Lord is in his holy temple;
ay let all the earth keep silence before him.”
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