| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk perceived. | 1The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. |
| 2"How long, LORD, must I cry out for help, but you won't listen? I'm crying out to you, 'Violence!' but you aren't providing deliverance. | 2How long, LORD, must I call for help and You do not listen or cry out to You about violence and You do not save? |
| 3Why are you forcing me to look at iniquity and to stare at wickedness? Social havoc and oppression are all around me; there are legal conflicts, and disputes abound. | 3Why do You force me to look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates. |
| 4Therefore, the Law has become paralyzed, and justice never comes about. Because criminals outnumber the righteous, whenever judgments are issued, they come out crooked." | 4This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted. |
| 5"Look out at the nations and pay attention! Be astounded! Be really astounded! Because something is happening in your lifetime that you won't believe, even if it were described down to the smallest detail. | 5Look at the nations and observe-- be utterly astounded! For something is taking place in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it. |
| 6Watch out! For I am bringing in the Chaldeans, that cruel and impetuous people, who sweep across the earth dispossessing people from homes not their own. | 6Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter, impetuous nation that marches across the earth's open spaces to seize territories not its own. |
| 7They are terrible and fearsome; their brand of justice and sense of honor derive only from themselves! | 7They are fierce and terrifying; their views of justice and sovereignty stem from themselves. |
| 8Their horses are swifter than leopards, and more cunning than wolves that attack at night. Their horsemen are galloping as they approach from far away. They swoop in like ravenous vultures. | 8Their horses are swifter than leopards and more fierce than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead; their horsemen come from distant lands. They fly like an eagle, swooping to devour. |
| 9"They all come to oppress— hordes of them, their faces pressing onward— they take prisoners as numerous as the desert sand! | 9All of them come to do violence; their faces are set in determination. They gather prisoners like sand. |
| 10They make fun of kings, deriding those who rule. They laugh at all of the fortified places, constructing ramps to seize them. | 10They mock kings, and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortress and build siege ramps to capture it. |
| 11Then like the wind sweeping by they will pass through— they're guilty because they say their power is their god." | 11Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their strength is their god. |
| 12"Haven't you existed forever, LORD my God, my Holy One? We won't die! LORD, you've prepared them for judgment; Rock, you've sentenced them to correction. | 12Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God? My Holy One, You will not die. LORD, You appointed them to execute judgment; my Rock, You destined them to punish us. |
| 13Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil; and you cannot tolerate wickedness. So why do you tolerate the treacherous? And why do you stay silent while the wicked devour those who are more righteous than they are? | 13Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are You silent while one who is wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself? |
| 14"You have fashioned mankind like fish in the ocean, like creeping things that have no ruler. | 14You have made mankind like the fish of the sea, like marine creatures that have no ruler. |
| 15The adversary captures them with a hook, gathering them up in a fishing net. He collects them with a dragnet, rejoicing and gloating over his catch. | 15The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook, catch them in their dragnet, and gather them in their fishing net; that is why they are glad and rejoice. |
| 16Therefore he sacrifices to his fishing net, and burns incense in the presence of his dragnet, because by them his assets increase and he gets plenty of food. | 16That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet and burn incense to their fishing net, for by these things their portion is rich and their food plentiful. |
| 17Is he to continue to empty his fishing net? Will he ever stop killing entire nations without mercy?" | 17Will they therefore empty their net and continually slaughter nations without mercy? |
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