11 The [1] oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw . 2 How long , O Lord , will I call for help , And You will not hear ? I cry out to You, "Violence !" Yet You do not save . 3 Why do You make me see iniquity , And cause me to look on wickedness ? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises . 4 Therefore e the law is [2]ignored And justice [3]is never e upheld . For the wicked surround the righteous ; Therefore e justice comes out perverted .
5 " Look among the nations ! Observe ! Be astonished ! Wonder ! Because I am doing something in your days - You would not believe if [4]you were told . 6 "For behold , I am raising up the Chaldeans , That [5]fierce and impetuous people Who march [6]throughout the earth To [7] seize dwelling places which are not theirs. 7 "They are dreaded and feared ; Their justice and [8]authority [9]originate with themselves. 8 "Their horses are swifter than leopards And [10]keener than wolves in the evening . Their [11]horsemen come galloping , Their horsemen come from afar ; They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour . 9 "All of them come for violence . [12]Their horde of faces moves forward . They collect captives like sand . 10 "They mock at kings And rulers are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress And heap up rubble to capture it. 11 "Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty , They whose strength is their god ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Habakkuk 1:1-11
Commentary on Habakkuk 1:1-11
(Read Habakkuk 1:1-11)
The servants of the Lord are deeply afflicted by seeing ungodliness and violence prevail; especially among those who profess the truth. No man scrupled doing wrong to his neighbour. We should long to remove to the world where holiness and love reign for ever, and no violence shall be before us. God has good reasons for his long-suffering towards bad men, and the rebukes of good men. The day will come when the cry of sin will be heard against those that do wrong, and the cry of prayer for those that suffer wrong. They were to notice what was going forward among the heathen by the Chaldeans, and to consider themselves a nation to be scourged by them. But most men presume on continued prosperity, or that calamities will not come in their days. They are a bitter and hasty nation, fierce, cruel, and bearing down all before them. They shall overcome all that oppose them. But it is a great offence, and the common offence of proud people, to take glory to themselves. The closing words give a glimpse of comfort.