5 "Furthermore , wine betrays the haughty man , So that he does not stay at home . He enlarges his appetite like Sheol , And he is like death , never satisfied . He also gathers to himself all nations And collects to himself all peoples .
6 "Will not all of these take up a taunt-song against him, Even mockery and insinuations against him And say , ' Woe to him who increases what is not his- For how long e - And makes himself rich with loans ?' 7 "Will not your creditors rise up suddenly , And those who collect from you awaken ? Indeed, you will become plunder for them. 8 "Because you have looted many nations , All the remainder of the peoples will loot you- Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land , To the town and all its inhabitants . 9 "Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house To put his nest on high , To be delivered from the hand of calamity ! 10 "You have devised a shameful thing for your house By cutting off many peoples ; So you are sinning against yourself . 11 "Surely the stone will cry out from the wall , And the rafter will answer it from the framework . 12 "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed And founds a town with violence ! 13 "Is it not indeed from the Lord of hosts That peoples toil for fire , And nations grow weary for nothing ? 14 "For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord , As the waters cover the sea .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Habakkuk 2:5-14
Commentary on Habakkuk 2:5-14
(Read Habakkuk 2:5-14)
The prophet reads the doom of all proud and oppressive powers that bear hard upon God's people. The lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, are the entangling snares of men; and we find him that led Israel captive, himself led captive by each of these. No more of what we have is to be reckoned ours, than what we come honestly by. Riches are but clay, thick clay; what are gold and silver but white and yellow earth? Those who travel through thick clay, are hindered and dirtied in their journey; so are those who go through the world in the midst of abundance of wealth. And what fools are those that burden themselves with continual care about it; with a great deal of guilt in getting, saving, and spending it, and with a heavy account which they must give another day! They overload themselves with this thick clay, and so sink themselves down into destruction and perdition. See what will be the end hereof; what is gotten by violence from others, others shall take away by violence. Covetousness brings disquiet and uneasiness into a family; he that is greedy of gain troubles his own house; what is worse, it brings the curse of God upon all the affairs of it. There is a lawful gain, which, by the blessing of God, may be a comfort to a house; but what is got by fraud and injustice, will bring poverty and ruin upon a family. Yet that is not the worst; Thou hast sinned against thine own soul, hast endangered it. Those who wrong their neighbours, do much greater wrong to their own souls. If the sinner thinks he has managed his frauds and violence with art and contrivance, the riches and possessions he heaped together will witness against him. There are not greater drudges in the world than those who are slaves to mere wordly pursuits. And what comes of it? They find themselves disappointed of it, and disappointed in it; they will own it is worse than vanity, it is vexation of spirit. By staining and sinking earthly glory, God manifests and magnifies his own glory, and fills the earth with the knowledge of it, as plentifully as waters cover the sea, which are deep, and spread far and wide.