Noyes Translation
1869 by George Noyes

Habakkuk Chapter 1

Hab 1:1 The prophecy which was revealed to the prophet Habakkuk.
Hab 1:2 How long, O Jehovah, do I cry, and thou dost not hear! How long do I complain to thee of violence, and thou dost not save!
Hab 1:3 Why dost thou suffer me to see iniquity, And why dost thou look upon wickedness? For spoiling and violence are before me; There is contention, and strife exalteth itself.
Hab 1:4 Therefore the law faileth, And judgment is not pronounced according to truth; For the wicked encompasseth the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment is pronounced.
Hab 1:5 Behold ye among the nations, and look! Yea, wonder, and be astonished! For I do a work in your days Which ye will not believe though it be told you.
Hab 1:6 For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, A fierce and swift people, Which go over the breadth of the earth, To take possession of dwelling–places that are not their own.
Hab 1:7 They are terrible and dreadful; From themselves go forth their law and their dignity.
Hab 1:8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, And fiercer than evening wolves. Their horsemen leap proudly; Their horsemen come from far; They fly like an eagle, hastening to devour.
Hab 1:9 All of them come for violence; The multitude of their faces is directed forwards, And they gather captives as sand.
Hab 1:10 They also scoff at kings, And princes are to them a laughing–stock; They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earth and take it.
Hab 1:11 Then their spirit is uplifted, and they transgress, and become guilty; This their strength is made their god.
Hab 1:12 Art thou not from everlasting, O Jehovah, my God, my Holy One? We shall not die! Thou, O Jehovah, hast appointed them for judgment; Thou, O Rock, hast ordained them for chastisement.
Hab 1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, And canst not look on wickedness; Why then dost thou look on transgressors, And art silent, when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he?
Hab 1:14 And why makest thou men as the fishes of the sea, As the reptiles that have no ruler?
Hab 1:15 They take up all of them with the hook, They catch them in their net, And gather them in their drag; Therefore they rejoice and exult.
Hab 1:16 Therefore they sacrifice to their net, And burn incense to their drag; Because by them their portion is fat, And their food plenteous.
Hab 1:17 Shall they therefore empty the net, And slay the nations continually without mercy?