Habakkuk 1; Habakkuk 2; Habakkuk 3; Zephaniah 1; Zephaniah 2; Zephaniah 3

Habakkuk 1

1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

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?

3 Why do You force me to look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

5 Look at the nations and observe- be utterly astounded! For something is taking place in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it.

6 Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter, impetuous nation that marches across the earth's open spaces to seize territories not its own.

7 They are fierce and terrifying; their views of justice and sovereignty stem from themselves.

8 Their horses are swifter than leopards and more fierce than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead; their horsemen come from distant [lands]. They fly like an eagle, swooping to devour.

9 All of them come to do violence; their faces are set in determination. They gather prisoners like sand.

10 They mock kings, and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortress and build siege ramps to capture it.

11 Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their strength is their god.

12 Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God? My Holy One, You will not die. Lord, You appointed them to execute judgment; [my] Rock, You destined them to punish [us].

13 [Your] eyes are too pure to look on evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are You silent while one who is wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself?

14 You have made mankind like the fish of the sea, like marine creatures that have no ruler.

15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook, catch them in their dragnet, and gather them in their fishing net; that is why they are glad and rejoice.

16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet and burn incense to their fishing net, for by these things their portion is rich and their food plentiful.

17 Will they therefore empty their net and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

Habakkuk 2

1 I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the lookout tower. I will watch to see what He will say to me and what I should reply about my complaint.

2 The Lord answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.

3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late.

4 Look, his ego is inflated; he is without integrity. But the righteous one will live by his faith.

5 Moreover, wine betrays; an arrogant man is never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself; he collects all the peoples for himself.

6 Won't all of these take up a taunt against him, with mockery and riddles about him? They will say: Woe to him who amasses what is not his- how much longer?- and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.

7 Won't your creditors suddenly arise, and those who disturb you wake up? Then you will become spoil for them.

8 Since you have plundered many nations, all the peoples who remain will plunder you- because of human bloodshed and violence against lands, cities, and all who live in them.

9 Woe to him who unjustly gains wealth for his house to place his nest on high, to escape from the reach of disaster!

10 You have planned shame for your house by wiping out many peoples and sinning against your own self.

11 For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will answer them from the woodwork.

12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with injustice!

13 Is it not from the Lord of Hosts, that the peoples labor [only] to fuel the fire and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?

14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord's glory, as the waters cover the sea.

15 Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink, pouring out your wrath and even making them drunk, in order to look at their nakedness!

16 You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory. You also-drink, and expose your uncircumcision! The cup in the Lord's right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will cover your glory.

17 For [your] violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you; the destruction of animals will terrify you, because of [your] human bloodshed and violence against lands, cities, and all who live in them.

18 What use is a carved idol after its craftsman carves it? It is [only] a cast image, a teacher of lies. For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it and makes idols that cannot speak.

19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up! or to mute stone: Come alive! Can it teach? Look! It may be plated with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.

20 But the Lord is in His holy temple; let everyone on earth be silent in His presence.

Habakkuk 3

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. According to Shigionoth.

2 Lord, I have heard the report about You; Lord, I stand in awe of Your deeds. Revive [Your work] in these years; make [it] known in these years. In [Your] wrath remember mercy!

3 God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise.

4 [His] brilliance is like light; rays are flashing from His hand. This is where His power is hidden.

5 Plague goes before Him, and pestilence follows in His steps.

6 He stands and shakes the earth; He looks and startles the nations. The age-old mountains break apart; the ancient hills sink down. His pathways are ancient.

7 I see the tents of Cushan in distress; the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.

8 Are You angry at the rivers, Lord? Is Your wrath against the rivers? Or is Your rage against the sea when You ride on Your horses, Your victorious chariot?

9 You took the sheath from Your bow; the arrows are ready to be used with an oath. Selah You split the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains see You and shudder; a downpour of water sweeps by. The deep roars with its voice and lifts its waves high.

11 Sun and moon stand still in [their] lofty residence, at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear.

12 You march across the earth with indignation; You trample down the nations in wrath.

13 You come out to save Your people, to save Your anointed. You crush the leader of the house of the wicked and strip [him] from foot to neck. Selah

14 You pierce his head with his own spears; his warriors storm out to scatter us, gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.

15 You tread the sea with Your horses, stirring up the great waters.

16 I heard, and I trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress to come against the people invading us.

17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

18 yet I will triumph in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

19 Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!

Zephaniah 1

1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.

2 I will completely sweep away everything from the face of the earth- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.

3 I will sweep away man and animal; I will sweep away the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth- the Lord's declaration.

4 I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all the residents of Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every vestige of Baal, the names of the pagan priests along with the priests;

5 those who bow in worship on the rooftops to the heavenly host; those who bow and pledge loyalty to the Lord but also pledge loyalty to Milcom;

6 and those who turn back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of Him.

7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord God , for the Day of the Lord is near. Indeed, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests.

8 On the day of the Lord's sacrifice I will punish the officials, the king's sons, and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.

9 On that day I will punish all who skip over the threshold, who fill their master's house with violence and deceit.

10 On that day- the Lord's declaration- there will be an outcry from the Fish Gate, a wailing from the Second District, and a loud crashing from the hills.

11 Wail, you residents of the Hollow, for all the merchants will be silenced; all those loaded with silver will be cut off.

12 And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men who settle down comfortably, who say to themselves: The Lord will not do good or evil.

13 Their wealth will become plunder and their houses a ruin. They will build houses but never live [in them], plant vineyards but never drink their wine.

14 The great Day of the Lord is near, near and rapidly approaching. Listen, the Day of the Lord- there the warrior's cry is bitter.

15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,

16 a day of trumpet [blast] and battle cry against the fortified cities, and against the high corner towers.

17 I will bring distress on mankind, and they will walk like the blind because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.

18 Their silver and their gold will not be able to rescue them on the day of the Lord's wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy. For He will make a complete, yes, a horrifying end of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zephaniah 2

1 Gather yourselves together; gather together, undesirable nation,

2 before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning of the Lord's anger overtakes you, before the day of the Lord's anger overtakes you.

3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who carry out what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the Lord's anger.

4 For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon will become a ruin. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.

5 Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast, nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines: I will destroy you until there is no one left.

6 The seacoast will become pasturelands with caves for shepherds and folds for sheep.

7 The coastland will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; they will find pasture there. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for the Lord their God will return to them and restore their fortunes.

8 I have heard the taunting of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their territory.

9 Therefore, as I live- the declaration of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel- Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah- a place overgrown with weeds, a salt pit, and a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.

10 This is what they get for their pride, because they have taunted and acted arrogantly against the people of the Lord of Hosts.

11 The Lord will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then all the distant coastlands of the nations will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place.

12 You Cushites will also be slain by My sword.

13 He will also stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolate ruin, dry as the desert.

14 Herds will lie down in the middle of it, every kind of wild animal. Both the desert owl and the screech owl will roost in the capitals of its pillars. [Their] calls will sound from the window, but devastation will be on the threshold, for He will expose the cedar work.

15 This is the self-assured city that lives in security, that thinks to herself: I am, and there is no one besides me. What a desolation she has become, a place for wild animals to lie down! Everyone who passes by her jeers and shakes his fist.

Zephaniah 3

1 Woe to the city that is rebellious and defiled, the oppressive city!

2 She has not obeyed; she has not accepted discipline. She has not trusted in the Lord; she has not drawn near to her God.

3 The princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are wolves of the night, which leave nothing for the morning.

4 Her prophets are reckless- treacherous men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to instruction.

5 The righteous Lord is in her; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the one who does wrong knows no shame.

6 I have cut off nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have laid waste their streets, with no one to pass through. Their cities lie devastated, without a person, without an inhabitant.

7 I thought: You will certainly fear Me and accept correction. Then her dwelling place would not be cut off [based on] all that I had allocated to her. However, they became more corrupt in all their actions.

8 Therefore, wait for Me- the Lord's declaration- until the day I rise up for plunder. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, in order to pour out My indignation on them, all My burning anger; for the whole earth will be consumed by the fire of My jealousy.

9 For I will then restore pure speech to the peoples so that all of them may call on the name of Yahweh and serve Him with a single purpose.

10 From beyond the rivers of Cush My supplicants, My dispersed people, will bring an offering to Me.

11 On that day you will not be put to shame because of everything you have done in rebelling against Me. For then I will remove your boastful braggarts from among you, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain.

12 I will leave a meek and humble people among you, and they will trust in the name of Yahweh.

13 The remnant of Israel will no longer do wrong or tell lies; a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. But they will pasture and lie down, with nothing to make [them] afraid.

14 Sing for joy, Daughter Zion; shout loudly, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all [your] heart, Daughter Jerusalem!

15 The Lord has removed your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is among you; you need no longer fear harm.

16 On that day it will be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear; Zion, do not let your hands grow weak.

17 The Lord your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring [you] quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy."

18 I will gather those who have been driven from the appointed festivals; [They will be] a tribute from you, and reproach [on her].

19 Yes, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame and gather the scattered; I will make those who were disgraced throughout the earth receive praise and fame.

20 At that time I will bring you back, yes, at the time I will gather you. I will make you famous and praiseworthy among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes. Yahweh has spoken.