2 Till when, O Jehovah, have I cried, And Thou dost not hear? I cry unto Thee—'Violence,' and Thou dost not save. 3 Why dost Thou shew me iniquity, And perversity dost cause to behold? And spoiling and violence 'are' before me, And there is strife, and contention doth lift 'itself' up, 4 Therefore doth law cease, And judgment doth not go forth for ever, For the wicked is compassing the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment goeth forth.
5 Look ye on nations, and behold and marvel greatly. For a work He is working in your days, Ye do not believe though it is declared. 6 For, lo, I am raising up the Chaldeans, The bitter and hasty nation, That is going to the broad places of earth, To occupy tabernacles not its own. 7 Terrible and fearful it 'is', From itself its judgment and its excellency go forth. 8 Swifter than leopards have been its horses, And sharper than evening wolves, And increased have its horsemen, Even its horsemen from afar come in, They fly as an eagle, hasting to consume. 9 Wholly for violence it doth come in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And it doth gather as the sand a captivity. 10 And at kings it doth scoff, And princes 'are' a laughter to it, At every fenced place it doth laugh, And it heapeth up dust, and captureth it. 11 Then passed on hath the spirit, Yea, he doth transgress, And doth ascribe this his power to his god.
12 Art not Thou of old, O Jehovah, my God, my Holy One? We do not die, O Jehovah, For judgment Thou hast appointed it, And, O Rock, for reproof Thou hast founded it. 13 Purer of eyes than to behold evil, To look on perverseness Thou art not able, Why dost Thou behold the treacherous? Thou keepest silent when the wicked Doth swallow the more righteous than he, 14 And Thou makest man as fishes of the sea, As a creeping thing—none ruling over him. 15 Each of them with a hook he hath brought up, He doth catch it in his net, and gathereth it in his drag, Therefore he doth joy and rejoice. 16 Therefore he doth sacrifice to his net, And doth make perfume to his drag, For by them 'is' his portion fertile, and his food fat. 17 Doth he therefore empty his net, And continually to slay nations spare not?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Habakkuk 1:2-17
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.
Commentary on Habakkuk 1:12-17
(Read Habakkuk 1:12-17)
However matters may be, yet God is the Lord our God, our Holy One. We are an offending people, he is an offended God, yet we will not entertain hard thoughts of him, or of his service. It is great comfort that, whatever mischief men design, the Lord designs good, and we are sure that his counsel shall stand. Though wickedness may prosper a while, yet God is holy, and does not approve the wickedness. As he cannot do iniquity himself, so he is of purer eyes than to behold it with any approval. By this principle we must abide, though the dispensations of his providence may for a time, in some cases, seem to us not to agree with it. The prophet complains that God's patience was abused; and because sentence against these evil works and workers was not executed speedily, their hearts were the more fully set in them to do evil. Some they take up as with the angle, one by one; others they catch in shoals, as in their net, and gather them in their drag, their enclosing net. They admire their own cleverness and contrivance: there is great proneness in us to take the glory of outward prosperity to ourselves. This is idolizing ourselves, sacrificing to the drag-net because it is our own. God will soon end successful and splendid robberies. Death and judgment shall make men cease to prey on others, and they shall be preyed on themselves. Let us remember, whatever advantages we possess, we must give all the glory to God.