Habakkuk 2:10-20

10 "You have devised a ¹shameful thing for your house By cutting off many peoples; So you are ²sinning against yourself.

11 "Surely the ³stone will cry out from the wall, And the rafter will answer it from the framework.

12 "Woe to him who ⁴builds a city with bloodshed And founds a town with violence!

13 "Is it not indeed from the LORD of hosts That peoples ⁵toil for fire, And nations grow weary for nothing?

14 "For the earth will be ⁶filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.

15 "Woe to you who make your neighbors drink, Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk So as to look on their nakedness!

16 "You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor. Now you yourself ⁷drink and expose your own nakedness. The ⁸cup in the LORD'S right hand will come around to you, And ⁹utter disgrace will come upon your glory.

17 "For the ¹⁰violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, And the devastation of its beasts by which you terrified them, ¹¹Because of human bloodshed and ¹²violence done to the land, To the town and all its inhabitants.

18 "What ¹³profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, Or an image, a ¹⁴teacher of falsehood? For its maker ¹⁵trusts in his own handiwork When he fashions speechless idols.

19 "Woe to him who ¹⁶says to a piece of wood, '¹⁷Awake!' To a mute stone, 'Arise!' And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with ¹⁸gold and silver, And there is ¹⁹no breath at all inside it.

20 "But the ²⁰LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth ²¹be silent before * Him."

Habakkuk 2:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HABAKKUK 2

This chapter contains an answer from the Lord to the expostulations, pleadings, and reasonings of the prophet, in the name of the people. The preparation of the prophet to receive this answer is described, Hab 2:1 then follows the answer itself, in which he is bid to write and make plain the vision he had, that it might be easily read, Hab 2:2 and a promise is made, that vision should still be continued to the appointed time, at which time the Messiah would come; and this the righteous man, in opposition to the vain and proud man, is encouraged to live in the faith of, Hab 2:3,4 and then the destruction of the enemies of the people of God is threatened for their pride, ambition, covetousness, oppression, and murder, Hab 2:5-12 which would be unavoidable, Hab 2:13 and issue in the spread of the knowledge of the glory of God in the world, Hab 2:14 and also the ruin of other enemies is threatened, for drawing men into apostasy, and for their violence and idolatry, Hab 2:15-19 upon which would follow an universal silence in the earth, Hab 2:20.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Kings 9:26; Nahum 1:14; Habakkuk 2:16
• 2. Jeremiah 26:19
• 3. Joshua 24:27; Luke 19:40
• 4. Micah 3:10; Nahum 3:1
• 5. Isaiah 50:11; Jeremiah 51:58
• 6. Psalms 22:27; Isaiah 11:9; Zechariah 14:9
• 7. Lamentations 4:21
• 8. Jeremiah 25:15, 17
• 9. Nahum 3:6
• 10. Joel 3:19; Zechariah 11:1
• 11. Psalms 55:23; Habakkuk 2:8
• 12. Jeremiah 51:35; Habakkuk 2:8
• 13. Isaiah 42:17; Isaiah 44:9; Jeremiah 2:27, 28
• 14. Jeremiah 10:8, 14; Zechariah 10:2
• 15. Psalms 115:4, 8
• 16. Jeremiah 2:27, 28; Jeremiah 10:3
• 17. 1 Kings 18:26-29
• 18. Psalms 135:15-18; Jer 10:4, 9, 14
• 19. Psalms 135:17
• 20. Micah 1:2
• 21. Zephaniah 1:7; Zechariah 2:13

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "wood"
• [b] Or "injustice"
• [c] Lit "his neighbor"
• [d] Lit "show yourself uncircumcised;" or "stagger;" so DSS and ancient versions
• [e] Lit "of Lebanon"
• [f] Lit "cover"
• [g] Lit which "terrified them"
• [h] Lit "of the land"
• [i] Or "a graven image"
• [j] Lit a "cast" metal "image"
• [k] Lit "Hush before Him, all the earth"