Brenton Translation
1851 by Lancelot Brenton

Habakkuk Chapter 1

Hab 1:1 The burden which the prophet Ambacum saw.
Hab 1:2 How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and thou wilt not hearken? [how long] shall I cry out to thee being injured, and thou wilt not save?
Hab 1:3 Wherefore hast thou shown me troubles and griefs to look upon, misery and ungodliness? judgment is before me, and the judge receives a reward.
Hab 1:4 Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgment proceeds not effectually, for the ungodly [man] prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgment will proceed.
Hab 1:5 Behold, ye despisers, and look, and wonder marvelously, and vanish: for I work a work in your days, which ye will in no wise believe, though a man declare [it to you].
Hab 1:6 Wherefore, behold, I stir up the Chaldeans, the bitter and hasty nation, that walks upon the breadth of the earth, to inherit tabernacles not his own.
Hab 1:7 He is terrible and famous; his judgment shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of himself.
Hab 1:8 And his horses shall bound [more swiftly] than leopards, and [they are] fiercer than the wolves of Arabia: and his horsemen shall ride forth, and shall rush from far; and they shall fly as an eagle hasting to eat.
Hab 1:9 Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand.
Hab 1:10 And he shall be at his ease with kings, and princes are his toys, and he shall mock at every strong-hold, and shall cast a mound, and take possession of it.
Hab 1:11 Then shall he change his spirit, and he shall pass through, and make an atonement, [saying], This strength [belongs] to my god.
Hab 1:12 [Art] not thou from the beginning, O Lord God, my Holy One? and surely we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast established it for judgment, and he has formed me to chasten [with] his correction.
Hab 1:13 [His] eye is too pure to behold evil [doings], and to look upon grievous afflictions: wherefore dost thou look upon despisers? wilt thou be silent when the ungodly swallows up the just?
Hab 1:14 And wilt thou make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the reptiles which have no guide?
Hab 1:15 He has brought up destruction with a hook, and drawn one with a casting net, and caught another in his drags: therefore shall his heart rejoice and be glad.
Hab 1:16 Therefore will he sacrifice to his drag, and burn incense to his casting-net, because by them he has made his portion fat, and his meats choice.
Hab 1:17 Therefore will he cast his net, and will not spare to slay the nations continually.