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.
9 They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand.
9 They're out to kill. Death is on their minds. They collect victims like squirrels gathering nuts.
9 "They all come for violence; Their faces are set like the east wind. They gather captives like sand.
9 "On they come, all bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind, sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Habakkuk 1:9
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.