Day 362 of 730

¹The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

²Lord, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you "Violence!" and will you not save?

³Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.

⁴Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.

⁵"Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.

⁶For, behold, 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.

⁷They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

⁸Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour.

⁹All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand.

¹⁰Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes it.

¹¹Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his god."

¹²Aren't you from everlasting, Lord my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Lord, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.

¹³You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,

¹⁴and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

¹⁵He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.

¹⁶Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.

¹⁷Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?

¹I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

²The Lord answered me, "Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it.

³For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won't prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won't delay.

⁴Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.

⁵Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. A haughty man who doesn't stay at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is like death, and can't be satisfied, but gathers to himself all nations, and heaps to himself all peoples.

⁶Won't all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, 'Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?'

⁷Won't your debtors rise up suddenly, and wake up those who make you tremble, and you will be their victim?

⁸Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it.

⁹Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!

¹⁰You have devised shame to your house, by cutting off many peoples, and have sinned against your soul.

¹¹For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork will answer it.

¹²Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity!

¹³Behold, isn't it of the Lord of hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?

¹⁴For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁵"Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies!

¹⁶You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of the Lord's right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.

¹⁷For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals, which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them.

¹⁸"What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?

¹⁹Woe to him who says to the wood, 'Awake!' or to the mute stone, 'Arise!' Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in its midst.

²⁰But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!"

¹My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him.

²He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress- I will never be greatly shaken.

³How long will you assault a man, would all of you throw him down, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?

⁴They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.

⁵My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from him.

⁶He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be shaken.

⁷With God is my salvation and my honor. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

⁸Trust in him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.

⁹Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.

¹⁰Do not trust in oppression. Do not become vain in robbery. If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

¹¹God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God.

¹²Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work.

¹The king's heart is in the Lord's hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.

²Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.

³To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

⁴A high look, and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.

⁶Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death.

⁷The violence of the wicked will drive them away, because they refuse to do what is right.

⁸The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

⁹It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.

¹⁰The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.

¹¹When the mocker is punished, the simple gains wisdom. When the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin.

¹³Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.

¹⁴A gift in secret pacifies anger; and a bribe in the cloak, strong wrath.

¹⁵It is joy to the righteous to do justice; but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.

¹⁶The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the dead.

¹⁷He who loves pleasure shall be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil shall not be rich.

¹⁸The wicked is a ransom for the righteous; the treacherous for the upright.

¹⁹It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman.

²⁰There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swallows it up.

²¹He who follows after righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness, and honor.

²²A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence.

²³Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

²⁴The proud and haughty man, "scoffer" is his name; he works in the arrogance of pride.

²⁵The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.

²⁶There are those who covet greedily all day long; but the righteous give and do not withhold.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination: how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind!

²⁸A false witness will perish, and a man who listens speaks to eternity.

²⁹A wicked man hardens his face; but as for the upright, he establishes his ways.

³⁰There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.

³¹The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with the Lord.