¶¹The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

O LORD, how² long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save³!

⁴Why 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.

Therefore the law⁵ is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for⁶ the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong⁷ judgment proceedeth.

¶ Behold ye among⁸ the heathen, and regard⁹, and wonder marvellously: for¹⁰ I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

For, lo, I raise¹¹ up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth¹² of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.

They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment¹³ and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

Their horses¹⁴ also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce¹⁵ than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they¹⁶ shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

They shall come all for¹⁷ violence: their faces shall sup up as the east¹⁸ wind, and they shall gather¹⁹ the captivity as the sand.

¶ And they shall scoff²⁰ at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride²¹ every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.

Then shall his²² mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing²³ this his power unto his god.

¶ Art thou not²⁴ from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine²⁵ Holy One? we²⁶ shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained²⁷ them for judgment; and, O mighty God²⁸, thou hast established²⁹ them for correction.

Thou art of³⁰ purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity³¹: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal³² treacherously, and holdest³³ thy tongue when the wicked³⁴ devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping³⁵ things, that have no ruler over them?

They take³⁶ up all of them with the angle, they catch³⁷ them in their net, and gather them in their drag³⁸: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

Therefore they³⁹ sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous⁴⁰.

Shall they therefore empty their net, and⁴¹ not spare continually to slay the nations?