O Lord, how long will I call for help
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do not save.

I will stand at my guard post
And station myself on the tower;
And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me,
And what answer I will give [as His spokesman] when I am reproved.

“For the vision is yet for the appointed [future] time
It hurries toward the goal [of fulfillment]; it will not fail.
Even though it delays, wait [patiently] for it,
Because it will certainly come; it will not delay.

“Will all these [victims of his greed] not take up a taunting song against him,
And in mocking derision against him
Say, ‘Woe (judgment is coming) to him who increases that which is not his—
How long [will he possess it]?
And [woe to him who] makes himself wealthy with loans.’

“Will your creditors not rise up suddenly,
And those who collect from you awaken?
Then you will become plunder for them.

“For the stone will cry out from the wall [to accuse you—built in sin!]
And the rafter will answer it out of the woodwork.

“Is it not indeed from the Lord of hosts
That peoples labor [only] for the fire [that will destroy their work],
And nations grow weary for nothing [that is, things which have no lasting value]?

“You will be filled with disgrace instead of honor.
Now drink and expose your own nakedness!
The cup [of wrath] in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you [O destroyer],
And utter disgrace will be on your own glory.

“For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
The destruction of the animals will terrify you
On account of human bloodshed and the violence done to the land,
To the city and all its inhabitants.

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to wild and enthusiastic music.

I heard and my whole inner self trembled;
My lips quivered at the sound.
Decay and rottenness enter my bones,
And I tremble in my place.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade and attack us.

Yet I will [choose to] rejoice in the Lord;
I will [choose to] shout in exultation in the [victorious] God of my salvation!

The Lord God is my strength [my source of courage, my invincible army];
He has made my feet [steady and sure] like hinds’ feet
And makes me walk [forward with spiritual confidence] on my high places [of challenge and responsibility].

For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.