Habakkuk 1:2

1:2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help?

But you do not listen!

I call out to you, “Violence!”

But you do not intervene! ¹ 

Habakkuk 1:16

1:16 Because of his success ²  he offers sacrifices to his throw net

and burns incense to his dragnet; ³ 

for because of them he has plenty of food, ⁴ 

and more than enough to eat. ⁵ 

Habakkuk 2:2

The Lord Assures Habakkuk

2:2 The Lord responded: ⁶ 

“Write down this message! ⁷  Record it legibly on tablets,

so the one who announces ⁸  it may read it easily. ⁹ 

Habakkuk 2:13

2:13 Be sure of this! The Lord who commands armies has decreed:

The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke;

their exhausting work will be for nothing. ¹⁰ 

---

¹ tn Or “deliver.”

² tn Heb “therefore.”

³ sn The fishing implements (throw net and dragnet) represent Babylonian military might. The prophet depicts the Babylonians as arrogantly worshiping their own power (sacrifices…burns incense, see also v. 11b).

⁴ tn Heb “for by them his portion is full [or, “fat”].”

⁵ tn Heb “and his food is plentiful [or, “fat”].”

⁶ tn Heb “the Lord answered and said.” The redundant expression “answered and said” has been simplified in the translation as “responded.”

⁷ tn Heb “[the] vision.”

⁸ tn Or “reads from.”

⁹ tn Heb “might run,” which here probably means “run [through it quickly with one’s eyes],” that is, read it easily.

¹⁰ tn Heb “Is it not, look, from the Lord of hosts that the nations work hard for fire, and the peoples are exhausted for nothing?”