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The Bible · 904 of 1189

Habakkuk 1

1.The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. 2. O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! 3. Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. 4. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

5.Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. 6. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. 7. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. 8. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. 9. They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. 10. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it. 11. Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.

12.Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. 13. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? 14. And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? 15. They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. 16. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. 17. Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

Asked of Guide

Why does Habakkuk complain God allows wicked Chaldeans to conquer Israel?

Habakkuk sees violence and failed justice and asks how a holy, everlasting God can “hold his tongue” while the righteous suffer. He recounts God’s plan to “raise up the Chaldeans” as instruments of judgment—God ordains them “for correction”—so the invasion is presented as a divinely permitted discipline rather than mere chaos.

The prophet’s complaint frames a moral problem: God is pure yet uses treacherous nations whose leaders “impute this his power unto his god,” committing further sin. This tension between God’s holiness and painful providence echoes themes in Job about suffering under God’s rule and in Isaiah where God uses nations to execute judgment.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.