Habakkuk 1

hammassa asher khazah khavaqquq hannavi

The pronouncement made by the prophet Habakkuk.

ad-anah Adonai shivvati velo tishma ezaq elekha khamas velo toshia

How long, O ETERNAL One, shall I cry out And You not listen, Shall I shout to You, “Violence!” And You not save?

lammah tareni aven ve'amal tabbit veshod vekhamas lenegdi vayehi riv umadon yissa

Why do You make me see iniquity [Why] do You look upon wrong?— Raiding and violence are before me, Strife continues and contention goes on.

al-ken tafug torah velo-yetse lanetsakh mishpat ki rasha makhtir et-hatsaddiq al-ken yetse mishpat me'uqqal

That is why decision fails And justice never emerges; For villains hedge in those whose cause is just— Therefore judgment emerges deformed.

re'u vaggoyim vehabbitu vehittammehu temahu ki-fo'al po'el bimekhem lo ta'aminu ki yesuppar

“Look among the nations, Observe well and be utterly astounded; For a work is being wrought in your days That you would not believe if it were told.

ki-hinni meqim et-hakkasdim haggoy hammar vehannimhar haholekh lemerkhave-erets lareshet mishkanot lo-lo

For lo, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce, impetuous nation, Who cross the earth’s wide spaces To seize homes not their own.

ayom venora hu mimmennu mishpato use'eto yetse

They are terrible, dreadful; They make their own laws and rules.

veqallu minnemerim susayw vekhaddu mizze'eve erev ufashu parashayw ufarashayw merakhoq yavo'u ya'ufu kenesher khash le'ekhol

Their horses are swifter than leopards, Fleeter than wolves of the steppe. Their steeds gallop—their steeds Come flying from afar. Like vultures rushing toward food,

kulloh lekhamas yavo megammat penehem qadimah vayye'esof kakhol shevi

They all come, bent on rapine. The thrust of their van is forward, And they amass captives like sand.

vehu bammelakhim yitqallas verozenim miskhaq lo hu lekhol-mivtsar yiskhaq vayyitsbor afar vayyilkedah

Kings they hold in derision, And princes are a joke to them; They laugh at every fortress, They pile up earth and capture it.

az khalaf ruakh vayya'avor ve'ashem zu khokho leloho

Then they pass on like the wind, They transgress and incur guilt, For they ascribe their might to their god.”

halo attah miqqedem Adonai elohay qedoshi lo namut Adonai lemishpat samto vetsur lehokhiakh yesadto

You, O ETERNAL One, are from everlasting; My holy God, You never die. O ETERNAL One, You have made them a subject of contention; O Rock, You have made them a cause for complaint.

tehor enayim mere'ot ra vehabbit el-amal lo tukhal lammah tabbit bogedim takharish bevalla rasha tsaddiq mimmennu

You whose eyes are too pure to look upon evil, Who cannot countenance wrongdoing, Why do You countenance treachery, And stand by idle While the one in the wrong devours The one in the right?

vatta'aseh adam kidge hayyam keremes lo-moshel bo

You have made humankind like the fish of the sea, Like creeping things that have no ruler.

kulloh bekhakkah he'alah yegorehu vekhermo veya'asfehu bemikhmarto al-ken yismakh veyagil

He has fished them all up with a line, Pulled them up in his trawl, And gathered them in his net. That is why he rejoices and is glad.

al-ken yezabbeakh lekhermo viqatter lemikhmarto ki vahemmah shamen khelqo uma'akhalo beri'ah

That is why he sacrifices to his trawl And makes offerings to his net; For through them his portion is rich And his nourishment fat.

ha'al ken yariq khermo vetamid laharog goyim lo yakhmol

Shall he then keep emptying his trawl, And slaying nations without pity?