Habakkuk Chapter 2

¹ I’ll stand at my post and watch;

                        I’ll station myself on a watchtower

            to see how he’ll answer my complaint.

The LORD’s Second Answer

² The LORD’s second answer:

“Write down this vision, etch it on tablets

      so the messenger can run with it

³ The vision is still for a future time;

      it speeds toward the goal and won’t fail.

Though it seems slow, wait for it;

      it will certainly come in due time.

Hab 2:1-3

                  ⁴“Arrogant people aren’t righteous,

      but the righteous will have life by his trust in me.

                  ⁵Besides, wine betrays the arrogant, so they don’t last.

      Their greed increases like the grave;

            like death, they’re never satisfied.

      They gather the whole world to themselves

            and use everybody.

Hab 2:4-5

                  ⁶“Won’t people taunt them and say in mockery,

                  ‘Misfortune awaits you that accumulate what’s not yours

                        and make yourselves rich by extortion

                                          —for how long, though?

                  ⁷Won’t your creditors suddenly decide

                        to call in their loans?

                  You’ll become their plunder.

                  ⁸Since you’ve looted many nations,

                  other nations will loot you

                        for the blood of men and women that you shed,

                        for your violence to towns and their people.’

Hab 2:6-8

                  ⁹“Misfortune awaits whoever uses dishonest gain

                              to build a prominent house up high,

                              like a nest beyond harm’s reach.

                  ¹⁰You’ve plotted shamelessly to build that house

                        by ruining lots of people’s lives;

                              you end up sinning against yourself.

                  ¹¹The very stones cry out against you from the wall,

      and the beams in the ceiling echo the complaint.

Hab 2:9-11

                  ¹²“Misfortune awaits whoever builds a city with murder

                              and establishes a town by violence!

                  ¹³Isn’t it from the LORD of Hosts

                              that people labor only to have it burn up

                  and nations wear themselves out for nothing?

                  ¹⁴The knowledge of the LORD’s glory

                  will cover the earth like water fills the ocean.

Hab 2:12-14

                  ¹⁵“Misfortune awaits you that make other people drink

                  your venom to get them drunk

                  so you can stare at their disgrace!

                  ¹⁶You’ll be disgraced, not honored;

                  you’ll drink and expose your own disgrace.

            The cup in the LORD’s right hand will come around to you;

                  complete disgrace will cover up your honor.

            ¹⁷ The violence you did to Lebanon will overwhelm you;

                  the devastation of its animals will terrify you

                        because of the murder and violence

                        you did to the land, its towns, and their people.        

Hab 2:15-17

                  ¹⁸“What good is an idol after its maker carves it,

                  or an image, which represents a lie?

            Its maker puts his faith in what he’s made

                  when the idol he’s made can’t even talk.

                  ¹⁹Misfortune awaits whoever says to a piece of wood, ‘Wake up!’

                  or to a speechless rock, ‘Get up and help us!’

            That’s your teacher!?

                  It’s overlaid with gold and silver,

                  but it can’t breathe.

                  ²⁰But the LORD is in his holy Temple;

                  let the whole earth be silent in his presence.”

Hab 2:18-20