Reference: Habakkuk
American
One of the minor prophets. Of his life we know nothing, except that he appears to have been contemporary with Jeremiah, and to have prophesied about 610 B.C., shortly before Nebuchadnezzar's first invasion of Judea, 2Ki 24:1.
The BOOK OF HABAKKUK consists of three chapters, which all constitute on oracle. In Hab 1, he foretells the woes which the rapacious and terrible Chaldeans would soon inflict upon his guilty nation. In Hab 2, he predicts the future humiliation of the conquerors. Hab 3 is a sublime and beautiful ode, in which the prophet implores the succor of Jehovah in view of his mighty works of ancient days, and expresses the most assured trust in him. Nothing, even in Hebrew poetry, is more lofty and grand then this triumphal ode.
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In his time Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up, and Jehoiakim became his slave three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.
Easton
embrace, the eighth of the twelve minor prophets. Of his personal history we have no reliable information. He was probably a member of the Levitical choir. He was contemporary with Jeremiah and Zephaniah.
Fausets
The cordially embraced one (favorite of God), or the cordial embracer. "A man of heart, hearty toward another, taking him into his arms. This Habakkuk does in his prophecy; he comforts and lifts up his people, as one would do with a weeping child, bidding him be quiet, because, please God, it would yet be better with him" (Luther). The psalm (Habakkuk 3) and title "Habakkuk the prophet" favor the opinion that Habakkuk was a Levite. The closing words, "to the chief singer on my stringed instruments," imply that Habakkuk with his own instruments would accompany the song he wrote under the Spirit; like the Levite seers and singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun (1Ch 25:1-5). A lyrical tone pervades his prophecies, so that he most approaches David in his psalms.
The opening phrase (Hab 1:1) describes his prophecy as "the burden which," etc., i.e. the weighty, solemn announcement. Habakkuk "saw" it with the inner eye opened by the Spirit. He probably prophesied in the 12th or 13th year of Josiah (630 or 629 B.C.), for the words "in your days" (Hab 1:5) imply that the prophecy would come to pass in the lifetime of the persons addressed. In Jer 16:9 the same phrase comprises 20 years, in Eze 12:25 six years.
Zep 1:7 is an imitation of Hab 2:20; now Zephaniah (Zep 1:1) lived under Josiah, and prophesied (compare Zep 3:5,15) after the restoration of Jehovah's worship, i.e. after the 12th year of Josiah's reign, about 624 B.C. So Habakkuk must have been before this. Jeremiah moreover began prophesying in Josiah's 13th year; now Jeremiah borrows from Habakkuk (compare Hab 2:13 with Jer 51:58); thus, it follows that 630 or 629 B.C. is Habakkuk's date of prophesying (Delitzsch).
Contents. - Habakkuk complains of the moral disorganization around, and cries to Jehovah for help (Hab 1:2-4); Jehovah in reply denounces swift vengeance (Hab 1:5-11) by the Chaldeans. Habakkuk complains that the Chaldees are worse than the Jews whom they are to be the instruments of chastising; they deal treacherously, sweep all into their net, and then "they sacrifice unto their net and burn incense unto their drag," i.e. idolize their own might and military skill, instead of giving the glory to God (De 8:17; Isa 10:13; 37:24-25). Habakkuk therefore, confident that God is of purer eyes than to behold evil (Hab 1:13), sets himself in an attitude of waiting for the Lord's own solution of this perplexing apparent anomaly (Hab 2:1); Jehovah desires him accordingly, "write the vision" of God's retributive justice plainly, so "that he may run that readeth it," namely, "run" to tell to all the good news of the foe's doom and Judah's deliverance, or, as Grotius, run through it, i.e. run through the reading without difficulty.
The issue must be awaited with patience, for it shall not disappoint; the lifted up soul, as that of the Chaldean foe and the unbelieving apostatizing Jew, is not accounted upright before God and therefore shall perish; but the just shall be accounted just by his faith and so shall live. The Chaldeans' doom is announced on the ground of this eternal principle of God's moral government. The oppressed nations "shall take up a parable," i.e. a derisive song (compare Isa 14:4; Mic 2:4), whom Habakkuk copies, against their oppressor. It is a symmetrical whole, five stanzas; three of three verses each, the fourth of four, and the last of two verses. Each stanza, except the last, begins with "woe." All have a closing verse introduced with "for," "but," or "because." Each strophe begins with the character of the sin, then states the woe, lastly confirms the woe (Hab 2:2-20).
The prayer-song (Habakkuk 3) is the spiritual echo, resuming the previous parts of the prophecy, for the enlightenment of God's people. Prayer, thanksgiving, and trust, are the spiritual key to unlock the mysteries of God's present government of the earth. The spirit appears tumultuously to waver (from whence the title "Shigionoth" from shagah, "to wander") between fear and hope; but faith at the end triumphs joyfully over present trials (Hab 3:17-19). Upon God's past manifestations for His people, at Paran, Teman, and the Red Sea, Habakkuk grounds the anticipated deliverance of his people from the foe, through Jehovah's interposition in sublime majesty; so that the believer can always rejoice in the God of his salvation and his strength.
The interests of God's righteous character, seemingly compromised in the Chaldees' successful violence, are what Habakkuk has most at heart throughout; to solve this problem is his one grand theme. Paul quotes Hab 1:5 in his warning to the unbelieving Jews at Antioch in Pisidia. Thrice Paul quotes Hab 2:4, "the just shall live by his faith" (one fundamental truth throughout the Bible, beginning with Abram in Ge 15:6); first in Ro 1:17, where the emphasis rests on "just," God's righteousness and the nature of justification being the prominent thought; secondly in Ga 3:11, where the emphasis is on "faith," the instrument of justification being prominent; thirdly in Heb 10:38, where the emphasis is on "live," the continued life that flows from justification being prominent.
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And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him for righteousness.
and thou say in thy heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.
Moreover David and the captains of the host separated unto the ministry the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals; and the number of men that were suitable for the work of their respective ministry was, of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied at the hand of the king. read more. Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hand of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD. Of Heman: the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamtiezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. All these were the sons of Heman, the king's seer, in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
For he said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have been prudent: and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and I have cast down as valiant ones those who were seated:
that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon and say, How has the oppressor ceased! The city that covets gold has ceased!
By the hand of thy slaves thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots I shall come up to the height of the mountains to the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof and the choice fir trees thereof; and I will enter into the height of his border and the forest of his Carmel. I have dug and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet shall I dry up all the rivers of sustenance.
For thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said: Behold, I will cause to cease in this place before your eyes and in your days, every voice of mirth and every voice of gladness, every voice of the bridegroom, and every voice of the bride.
Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly cast down, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and peoples and nations shall labour in vain in the fire to save her, and they shall become weary.
Because I, the LORD, will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall no longer be prolonged, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and will perform it, said the Lord GOD.
In that time shall one take up a saying against you and lament with a doleful lamentation and say, We have been utterly destroyed; he has changed the portion of my people; how has he taken our fields! He has given and divided our fields unto others.
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw. O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear; and raise my voice unto thee because of the violence, and thou wilt not save? read more. Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity and cause me to behold grievance and destruction and violence before me, in addition to those that raise up strife and contention? Therefore the law is weakened, and the judgment does not go forth true: for the wicked compasses about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceeds. Behold among the Gentiles and regard and wonder marvelously, for a work shall be done in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
Behold among the Gentiles and regard and wonder marvelously, for a work shall be done in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
Behold among the Gentiles and regard and wonder marvelously, for a work shall be done in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which march through the breadth of the earth to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. read more. She is terrible and dreadful: from her herself shall go forth their rights and their grandeur. Their horses shall be swifter than tigers and are sharper than the evening wolves, and their horsemen shall multiply themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as eagles that hasten to eat. All of her shall come for the prey, before their faces an east wind, and they shall gather the captives as the sand. And he shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto him, he shall deride every fortress and shall heap dust and take it. Then he shall become arrogant against God, and he shall pass ahead and shall be found guilty, imputing this his power unto his god.
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity: why dost thou look upon those that deal treacherously and hold thy tongue when the wicked devour the man that is more righteous than he?
I will stand upon my watch and affirm my foot upon the fortress and will watch to see what he will say in me and what I shall answer to my question. And the LORD answered me and said, Write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that reads it. read more. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it because it will surely come; wait for it. Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him will become filled with pride, but the just in his faith shall live.
Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him will become filled with pride, but the just in his faith shall live. Even more than he who is given over to wine, the transposer, the proud man, shall not remain, who enlarges his desire as Sheol and is as death and cannot be satisfied, but gathered unto him all the Gentiles and heaps unto him all the peoples; read more. Shall not all these take up a parable against him and a taunting enigma against him and say, Woe to him that multiplied that which was not his! And for how long would he pile thick clay upon himself? Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee and awake those that shall take thy place, and thou shalt be for a prey unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the other peoples shall spoil thee because of human blood and for the robberies of the land, of the cities, and of all that dwell therein. Woe to him that covets ill-gotten gain by violence for his house that he may set his nest on high, that he may escape from the power of evil! Thou hast taken shameful counsel for thy house by cutting off many peoples and hast committed a sin against thy life. For the stone shall cry out from the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that builds the city with blood and founds the village with iniquity! Is this not of the LORD of the hosts? Therefore the peoples shall labour for the fire, and the Gentiles shall weary themselves in vain.
Is this not of the LORD of the hosts? Therefore the peoples shall labour for the fire, and the Gentiles shall weary themselves in vain. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. read more. Woe unto him that gives his neighbours drink, that puts thy bottle to them, and makes them drunken also, that thou may look on their nakedness! Thou hast filled thyself with dishonour instead of honour; drink thou also, and thy foreskin shall be uncovered; the cup of the LORD's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful vomit shall fall upon thy glory. For the violence of Lebanon shall fall upon thee and the destruction of the wild beasts shall break thee, because of the human blood, and of the robbery of the land, of the cities, and of all that dwell therein. Of what profit is the graven image that its maker has sculpted; the molten image, that teaches lies, so that in making dumb images the maker trusts in his work? Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise! Can it ever teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all within it. But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Because the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines; the labour of the olive shall lie, and the cultivated fields shall yield no food; the sheep shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will joy in the God of my saving health. read more. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and upon my high places he will cause me to walk victorious in my instruments of music.
The word of the LORD which went unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
Be silent before the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, he has bid his guests.
The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: each morning he shall bring his judgment to light; he never fails; but the unjust know no shame.
The LORD has taken away thy judgments; he has cast out thine enemy; the LORD is king of Israel in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more.
For in him is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident, for The just shall live by faith.
Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Hastings
The eighth of the Minor Prophets. Except for legends, e.g. in Bel and the Dragon (33
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And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
The word that was sent to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Stand in the gate of the LORD's house and proclaim there this word and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. read more. Thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye thoroughly do right between a man and his neighbour, if ye do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed no innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers for ever and ever. Behold, ye trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not, and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are free to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, said the LORD. But go now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now because ye have done all these works, said the LORD and I spoke well unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye did not hear; and I called you, but ye did not answer; therefore I will do unto this house, which is called by my name, in which ye trust, and unto this place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
Because they have forsaken me and have estranged this place; and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw. O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear; and raise my voice unto thee because of the violence, and thou wilt not save?
O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear; and raise my voice unto thee because of the violence, and thou wilt not save? Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity and cause me to behold grievance and destruction and violence before me, in addition to those that raise up strife and contention?
Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity and cause me to behold grievance and destruction and violence before me, in addition to those that raise up strife and contention? Therefore the law is weakened, and the judgment does not go forth true: for the wicked compasses about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceeds.
Therefore the law is weakened, and the judgment does not go forth true: for the wicked compasses about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceeds.
Therefore the law is weakened, and the judgment does not go forth true: for the wicked compasses about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceeds.
Therefore the law is weakened, and the judgment does not go forth true: for the wicked compasses about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceeds. Behold among the Gentiles and regard and wonder marvelously, for a work shall be done in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
Behold among the Gentiles and regard and wonder marvelously, for a work shall be done in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
Behold among the Gentiles and regard and wonder marvelously, for a work shall be done in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which march through the breadth of the earth to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which march through the breadth of the earth to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which march through the breadth of the earth to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. She is terrible and dreadful: from her herself shall go forth their rights and their grandeur.
She is terrible and dreadful: from her herself shall go forth their rights and their grandeur.
She is terrible and dreadful: from her herself shall go forth their rights and their grandeur. Their horses shall be swifter than tigers and are sharper than the evening wolves, and their horsemen shall multiply themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as eagles that hasten to eat.
Their horses shall be swifter than tigers and are sharper than the evening wolves, and their horsemen shall multiply themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as eagles that hasten to eat.
Their horses shall be swifter than tigers and are sharper than the evening wolves, and their horsemen shall multiply themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as eagles that hasten to eat. All of her shall come for the prey, before their faces an east wind, and they shall gather the captives as the sand.
All of her shall come for the prey, before their faces an east wind, and they shall gather the captives as the sand.
All of her shall come for the prey, before their faces an east wind, and they shall gather the captives as the sand. And he shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto him, he shall deride every fortress and shall heap dust and take it.
And he shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto him, he shall deride every fortress and shall heap dust and take it.
And he shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto him, he shall deride every fortress and shall heap dust and take it. Then he shall become arrogant against God, and he shall pass ahead and shall be found guilty, imputing this his power unto his god.
Then he shall become arrogant against God, and he shall pass ahead and shall be found guilty, imputing this his power unto his god.
Then he shall become arrogant against God, and he shall pass ahead and shall be found guilty, imputing this his power unto his god. Art thou not from the beginning, O LORD my God, my Holy One? we shall not die, O LORD, thou hast ordained him for judgment, and thou hast established him strong for chastisement. read more. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity: why dost thou look upon those that deal treacherously and hold thy tongue when the wicked devour the man that is more righteous than he?
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity: why dost thou look upon those that deal treacherously and hold thy tongue when the wicked devour the man that is more righteous than he? And dost make men as the fishes of the sea, as reptiles that have no lord? read more. He shall take up all of them with his hook; he shall catch them in his net and gather them in his drag: therefore, he shall rejoice and be glad. Therefore, he shall sacrifice unto his net and burn incense unto his drag because by them his portion is fat, and his food plenteous. Shall he therefore empty his net, or have pity to stop slaying Gentiles continually?
Shall he therefore empty his net, or have pity to stop slaying Gentiles continually?
I will stand upon my watch and affirm my foot upon the fortress and will watch to see what he will say in me and what I shall answer to my question. And the LORD answered me and said, Write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that reads it. read more. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it because it will surely come; wait for it. Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him will become filled with pride, but the just in his faith shall live.
Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him will become filled with pride, but the just in his faith shall live. Even more than he who is given over to wine, the transposer, the proud man, shall not remain, who enlarges his desire as Sheol and is as death and cannot be satisfied, but gathered unto him all the Gentiles and heaps unto him all the peoples;
Even more than he who is given over to wine, the transposer, the proud man, shall not remain, who enlarges his desire as Sheol and is as death and cannot be satisfied, but gathered unto him all the Gentiles and heaps unto him all the peoples; Shall not all these take up a parable against him and a taunting enigma against him and say, Woe to him that multiplied that which was not his! And for how long would he pile thick clay upon himself? read more. Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee and awake those that shall take thy place, and thou shalt be for a prey unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the other peoples shall spoil thee because of human blood and for the robberies of the land, of the cities, and of all that dwell therein. Woe to him that covets ill-gotten gain by violence for his house that he may set his nest on high, that he may escape from the power of evil! Thou hast taken shameful counsel for thy house by cutting off many peoples and hast committed a sin against thy life. For the stone shall cry out from the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that builds the city with blood and founds the village with iniquity! Is this not of the LORD of the hosts? Therefore the peoples shall labour for the fire, and the Gentiles shall weary themselves in vain. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. Woe unto him that gives his neighbours drink, that puts thy bottle to them, and makes them drunken also, that thou may look on their nakedness! Thou hast filled thyself with dishonour instead of honour; drink thou also, and thy foreskin shall be uncovered; the cup of the LORD's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful vomit shall fall upon thy glory. For the violence of Lebanon shall fall upon thee and the destruction of the wild beasts shall break thee, because of the human blood, and of the robbery of the land, of the cities, and of all that dwell therein.
For the violence of Lebanon shall fall upon thee and the destruction of the wild beasts shall break thee, because of the human blood, and of the robbery of the land, of the cities, and of all that dwell therein. Of what profit is the graven image that its maker has sculpted; the molten image, that teaches lies, so that in making dumb images the maker trusts in his work? read more. Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise! Can it ever teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all within it. But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Morish
Nothing is said of the prophet's ancestors, nor as to when he prophesied. He is generally placed in the time of Josiah or a little later: it was before the captivity of Judah, for that is foretold.
Hab. 1. The prophet exhibits the exercise of a heart full of sympathy towards the people of God. The evil among them greatly distressed him, and he cried mightily unto God. In Hab 1:5-11 is God's answer. He will raise up the Chaldeans, a "bitter and hasty nation," to punish them. The character and violence of the Chaldeans are described.
In the verses from Hab 1:12 to Hab 2:1, the prophet pleads with God not to be unmindful that the Chaldeans were worse than Judah. He will watch for God's answer.
In Hab 2:2-20 is God's reply. The prophet was told to write the vision so plainly that he who read it might run. The vision was for an appointed time, but it hasted to the end. The restless, grasping pride of the Chaldeans God would in due time judge; but meanwhile "the just shall live by his faith." The rapacity of the Babylonian is spoken of, and then woes are pronounced against the oppressor, for his covetousness, his blood-shedding, his debauchery, and his idolatry.
In contrast to all this the announcement is made that "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the bed of the sea." This looks forward to the millennium, passing over the partial return of the people in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The prophet is assured that "The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him." Judgement on the Gentile rulers of God's people will, at the time of the end, immediately precede and lead to the kingdom.
Hab. 3 is a prayer of the prophet. 'Upon Shigionoth,' reads in the margin "according to variable songs or tunes," which signification seems confirmed by the subscription, "To the chief singer on stringed instruments." The prophet realises the presence of God while he reviews His past dealings against Israel's enemies, and sees in them the pledge of the future salvation. At the close, while faith has to wait for the blessing he rejoices in God, saying, "I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places."
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Behold among the Gentiles and regard and wonder marvelously, for a work shall be done in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which march through the breadth of the earth to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. read more. She is terrible and dreadful: from her herself shall go forth their rights and their grandeur. Their horses shall be swifter than tigers and are sharper than the evening wolves, and their horsemen shall multiply themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as eagles that hasten to eat. All of her shall come for the prey, before their faces an east wind, and they shall gather the captives as the sand. And he shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto him, he shall deride every fortress and shall heap dust and take it. Then he shall become arrogant against God, and he shall pass ahead and shall be found guilty, imputing this his power unto his god. Art thou not from the beginning, O LORD my God, my Holy One? we shall not die, O LORD, thou hast ordained him for judgment, and thou hast established him strong for chastisement.
I will stand upon my watch and affirm my foot upon the fortress and will watch to see what he will say in me and what I shall answer to my question. And the LORD answered me and said, Write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that reads it. read more. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it because it will surely come; wait for it. Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him will become filled with pride, but the just in his faith shall live. Even more than he who is given over to wine, the transposer, the proud man, shall not remain, who enlarges his desire as Sheol and is as death and cannot be satisfied, but gathered unto him all the Gentiles and heaps unto him all the peoples; Shall not all these take up a parable against him and a taunting enigma against him and say, Woe to him that multiplied that which was not his! And for how long would he pile thick clay upon himself? Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee and awake those that shall take thy place, and thou shalt be for a prey unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the other peoples shall spoil thee because of human blood and for the robberies of the land, of the cities, and of all that dwell therein. Woe to him that covets ill-gotten gain by violence for his house that he may set his nest on high, that he may escape from the power of evil! Thou hast taken shameful counsel for thy house by cutting off many peoples and hast committed a sin against thy life. For the stone shall cry out from the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that builds the city with blood and founds the village with iniquity! Is this not of the LORD of the hosts? Therefore the peoples shall labour for the fire, and the Gentiles shall weary themselves in vain. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. Woe unto him that gives his neighbours drink, that puts thy bottle to them, and makes them drunken also, that thou may look on their nakedness! Thou hast filled thyself with dishonour instead of honour; drink thou also, and thy foreskin shall be uncovered; the cup of the LORD's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful vomit shall fall upon thy glory. For the violence of Lebanon shall fall upon thee and the destruction of the wild beasts shall break thee, because of the human blood, and of the robbery of the land, of the cities, and of all that dwell therein. Of what profit is the graven image that its maker has sculpted; the molten image, that teaches lies, so that in making dumb images the maker trusts in his work? Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise! Can it ever teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all within it. But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
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HABAKKUK, the author of the prophecy bearing his name, Hab 1:1, &c. Nothing is certainly known concerning the tribe or birth place of Habakkuk. He is said to have prophesied about B.C. 605, and to have been alive at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. It is generally believed that he remained and died in Judea. The principal predictions contained in this book are, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the Jews by the Chaldeans or Babylonians; their deliverance from the oppressor "at the appointed time;" and the total ruin of the Babylonian empire. The promise of the Messiah is confirmed; the overruling providence of God is asserted; and the concluding prayer, or rather hymn, recounts the wonders which God had wrought for his people, when he led them from Egypt into Canaan, and expresses the most perfect confidence in the fulfilment of his promises. The style of Habakkuk is highly poetical, and the hymn in the third chapter is perhaps unrivalled for sublimity, simplicity, and power.
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The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.