Habakkuk 1:2

2 O Lord, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence?

Habakkuk 1:2 Meaning and Commentary

Habakkuk 1:2

O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!
&c.] The prophet having long observed the sins and iniquities of the people among whom he lived, and being greatly distressed in his mind on account of them, had frequently and importunately cried unto the Lord to put a stop to the abounding of them, that the people might be brought to a sense of their sins, and reform from them; but nothing of this kind appearing, he concludes his prayers were not heard, and therefore expostulates with the Lord upon this head: [even] cry unto thee [of] violence, and thou wilt not save!
either of violence done to himself in the discharge of his office, or of one man to another, of the rich to the poor; and yet, though he cried again and again to the Lord, to check this growing evil, and deliver the oppressed out of the hands of their oppressors, it was not done; which was matter of grief and trouble to him.

Habakkuk 1:2 In-Context

1 This is the message that the Lord revealed to the prophet Habakkuk.
2 O Lord, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence?
3 Why do you make me see such trouble? How can you stand to look on such wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around me, and there is fighting and quarreling everywhere.
4 The law is weak and useless, and justice is never done. Evil people get the better of the righteous, and so justice is perverted.
5 Then the Lord said to his people, "Keep watching the nations around you, and you will be astonished at what you see. I am going to do something that you will not believe when you hear about it.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.