Habakkuk 2
1 I will stand upon my watch, and
mount upon the rock, and watch to see what he will say by me, and what I shall
answer when I am reproved.
2 And the Lord answered me and said,
Write the vision, and that plainly on a tablet, that
he that reads it may run. 3 For the
vision is yet for a time, and it shall shoot forth at
the end, and not in vain: though he should tarry, wait for him; for he will
surely come, and will not tarry.
4 If he should draw back, my soul has
no pleasure in him: but the just shall live by my faith.
5 But the arrogant man and the
scorner, the boastful man, shall not finish anything; who has enlarged his
desire as the grave, and like death he is never satisfied, and he will gather
to himself all the nations, and will receive to himself all the peoples.
6 Shall not all these take up a
parable against him? and a proverb to tell against him? and they shall say,
Woe to him that multiplies to himself the possessions which are not his! how
long? and who heavily loads his yoke.
7 For suddenly there shall arise up
those that bite him, and they that plot against thee shall awake, and thou
shalt be a plunder to them. 8 Because
thou hast spoiled many nations, all the nations that are left shall spoil
thee, because of the blood of men, and the sins of
the land and city, and of all that dwell in it.
9 Woe to him that covets an evil
covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be
delivered from the power of evils.
10 Thou hast devised shame to thy
house, thou hast utterly destroyed many nations, and thy soul has sinned.
11 For the stone shall cry out of the
wall, and the beetle out of the timber shall speak.
12 Woe to him that builds a city with
blood, and establishes a city by unrighteousness.
13 Are not these things of the Lord
Almighty? surely many people have been exhausted in the fire, and many nations
have fainted. 14 For the earth shall
be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord; it shall cover them as
water.
15 Woe to him that gives his
neighbour to drink the thick lees of wine, and
intoxicates him, that he may look upon their secret
parts. 16 Drink thou also
thy fill of disgrace instead of glory: shake, O
heart, and quake, the cup of the right hand of the Lord has come round upon
thee, and dishonour has gathered upon thy glory.
17 For the ungodliness of Libanus
shall cover thee, and distress because of wild beasts shall dismay thee,
because of the blood of men, and the sins of the land and city, and of all
that dwell in it.
18 What profits it the graven image,
that they have graven it? one has made it a molten
work, a false image; for the maker has trusted in his work, to make dumb
idols.
19 Woe to him that says to the wood,
Awake, arise; and to the stone, Be thou exalted! whereas it is an image, and
this is a casting of gold and silver, and there is no breath in it.
20 But the Lord is in his holy
temple: let all the earth fear before him.