Habakkuk 1:2

Habakkuk’s Complaint

2 How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?

Habakkuk 1:2 in Other Translations

KJV
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
ESV
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save?
NLT
2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save.
MSG
2 God, how long do I have to cry out for help before you listen? How many times do I have to yell, "Help! Murder! Police!" before you come to the rescue?
CSB
2 How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen, or cry out to You about violence and You do not save?

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 The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
2 How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
5 “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.

Cross References 3

  • 1. S Psalms 6:3
  • 2. Psalms 13:1-2; Psalms 22:1-2
  • 3. Jeremiah 14:9; Zechariah 1:12
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