2
I will stand on my watch,
Take up my station at thea post,
And wait to see what He will say to me,
What Heb will reply to my complaint.
2The LORD answered me and said:
Write the prophecy down,
Inscribe it clearly on tablets,
So that it can be read easily.
3For c-there is yet a prophecy-c for a set term,
A truthful witness for a time that will come.
Even if it tarries, wait for it still;
For it will surely come, without delay:
4d-Lo, his spirit within him is puffed up, not upright,
But-d the righteous man is rewarded with life
For his fidelity.
5How much less then shall the defiante go unpunished,
The treacherous, arrogant man
Who has made his maw as wide as Shcol,
Who is as insatiable as Death,
Who has harvested all the nations
And gathered in all the peoples!
6Surely all these shall pronounce a satire against him,
A pointed epigram concerning him.
They shall say:
Ah, you who pile up what is not yours—
How much longer?—
And make ever heavier your load of indebtedness!
7Right suddenly will your creditorsf arise,
And those who remindg you will awake,
And you will be despoiled by them.
8Because you plundered many nations,
All surviving peoples shall plunder you—
breath within him—/And….”
For crimes against men and wrongs against lands,
Against cities and all their inhabitants.
9Ah, you who have acquired gains
To the detriment of your own house,
h-Who have destroyed many peoples-h
In order to set your nest on high
To escape disaster!
10You have plotted shame for your own house,
And guilt for yourself;
11For a stone shall cry out from the wall,
And a rafter shall answer it from the woodwork.
12Ah, you who have built a town with crime,
And established a city with infamy,
13So that peoples have had to toil for the fire,i
And nations to weary themselves for naught!
jBehold, it is from the LORD of Hosts:
14k-For the earth shall be filled
With awe for the glory of the LORD
As water covers the sea.-k
15Ah, you who make others drink to intoxication
l-As you pour out-l your wrath,
In order to gaze upon their nakedness!m
16You shall be sated with shame
Rather than glory:
Drink in your turn and stagger!n
The cup in the right hand of the LORD
Shall come around to you,
And o-disgrace to-o your glory.
17p-For the lawlessness against Lebanon shall cover you,
The destruction of beasts shall overwhelm you-p—
For crimes against men and wrongs against lands,
Against cities and all their inhabitants.
18qWhat has the carved image availed,
That he who fashioned it has carved it
For an image and a false oracle—
That he who fashioned his product has trusted in it,
Making dumb idols?
19Ah, you who say, “Wake up” to wood,
“Awaken,” to inert stone!
Can that give an oracle?
Why, it is encased in gold and silver,
But there is no breath inside it.
20But the LORD in His holy Abode—
Be silent before Him all the earth!
3
A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. In the mode of Shigionoth.a
2O LORD! I have learned of Your renown;
I am awed, O LORD, by Your deeds.
Renew them in these years,
Oh, make them known in these years!
Though angry, may You remember compassion.
3God is coming from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah.b
His majesty covers the skies,
His splendor fills the earth:
4c-It is a brilliant light
Which gives off rays on every side—
And therein His glory is enveloped.-c
5Pestilence marches before Him,
And plague comes forth at His heels.
6When He stands, He makes the earth shake;d
When He glances, He makes nations tremble.
The age-old mountains are shattered,
The primeval hills sink low.
c-His are the ancient routes:
7As a scene of havoc I behold-c
The tents of Cushan;
Shaken are the pavilions
Of the land of Midian!
8Are You wroth, O LORD, with Neharim?
Is Your anger against Neharim,
Your rage against Yame—
That You are driving Your steeds,
Your victorious chariot?
9All bared and ready is Your bow.
c-Sworn are the rods of the word.-c Selah.
You make the earth burst into streams,
10The mountains rock at the sight of You,
A torrent of rain comes down;
Loud roars the deep,
c-The sky returns the echo.-c
11Sun [and] moon stand still on high
As Your arrows fly in brightness,
Your flashing spear in brilliance.
12You tread the earth in rage,
You trample nations in fury.
13You have come forth to deliver Your people,
To deliver Your anointed.f
g-You will smash the roof of the villain’s house,
Raze it from foundation to top. Selah.
14You will crack [his] skull with Yourh bludgeon;
Blown away shall be his warriors,
Whose delight is to crush me suddenly,
To devour a poor man in an ambush.-g
15i-You will make Your steeds tread the sea,
Stirring the mighty waters.
16I heard and my bowels quaked,
My lips quivered at the sound;
Rot entered into my bone,
I trembled where I stood.
Yet I wait calmly for the day of distress,
For a people to come to attack us.
17Though the fig tree does not bud
And no yield is on the vine,
Though the olive crop has failed
And the fields produce no grain,
Though sheep have vanished from the fold
And no cattle are in the pen,-i
18Yet will I rejoice in the LORD,
Exult in the God who delivers me.
19My Lord GOD is my strength:
He makes my feet like the deer’s
And lets me stride upon the heights.
c-For the leader; with instrumental music.-c
a-a Targum and Syriac “So that I look.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Lit. “Their law and majesty proceed from themselves.”
d Understanding ‘creb as synonymous with ‘arabah; cf. Jer. 5.6.
e-e The Qumran Habakkuk commentary (hereafter 1QpHab) reads “and spread [wings].”
f Heb. “we,” a change made by a pious scribe.
g-g 1QpHab “[for him] to rule over”; cf. Gen. 1.28; Ps. 8.7–9.
h Emendation yields “bread”; cf. Gen. 49.20.
i-i 1QpHab “drawing his sword.”
a 1QpHab reads “my.”
b Taking ’ashib as equivalent to yashib.
c-c Emendation yields “the prophecy is a witness.”
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Lo there is a reward for the upright—the life breath within him—And….”
e Connecting hyyn (1QpHab hwn) with the root hwn, Deut. 1.41; for the thought cf. Prov. 11.31. Meaning of rest of line uncertain.
f Lit. “usurers.”
g Lit. “shake”; the same verb means “to call to mind” in Samaritan Aramaic.
h-h Brought up from v. 10 for clarity.
i I.e., without profit.
j Connection with the next four lines uncertain; they might read better after v. 20.
k-k Cf. Isa. 11.9.
l-l Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “from the bowl of.”
m Cf. Gen. 9.21–22.
n Emendation yields “uncover yourself”; cf. Lam. 4.21.
o-o Or “vomit of disgrace upon.”
p-p Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
q This verse would read well after v. 19.
a Meaning uncertain; perhaps “psalms of supplication”; cf. Ps. 7.1.
b A musical direction of uncertain meaning.
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d Cf. Targum and Septuagint.
e Neharim (lit. “Floods”) and Yam (lit. “Sea”) were marine monsters vanquished by the LORD in hoary antiquity. On Yam see Ps. 74.13; Job 7.12. A being called both Yam and Nahar figures in early Canaanite literature.
f I.e., the king of Judah.
g-g Emendation yields: You will strike the heads of men of evil,/Smash the pates of Your adversaries. Selah./You will crack their skulls with Your bludgeon;/Dispersed, blown like chaff shall be they/Who lie in wait to swallow the innocent,/To devour the poor in an ambush.
h Heb. “His.”
i-i Or: 15You will make Your steeds tread the sea,/Stirring the mighty waters,/16That I may have rest on a day of distress,/When a people come up to attack us./But this report made my bowels quake,/These tidings made my lips quiver;/Rot entered into my bone,/I trembled where I stood:/17That the fig tree does not bud,/And no yield is on the vine;/The olive crop has failed,/And the fields produce no grain;/The sheep have vanished from the fold,/And no cattle are in the pen.
Zephaniah
1 The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi son of
Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, during the reign of King Josiah
son of Amon of Judah.
2I will sweep everything away
From the face of the earth
— declares the LORD.
3I will sweep away man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the sky
And the fish of the sea.
a-I will make the wicked stumble,-a
And I will destroy mankind
From the face of the earth
— declares the LORD.
4I will stretch out My arm against Judah
And against all who dwell in Jerusalem;
And I will wipe out from this place
Every vestige of Baal,
And the name of the priestlingsb along with the priests;
5And those who bow down on the roofs
To the host of heaven;
And those who bow down and swear to the LORD
But also swear by Malcam;c
6And those who have forsaken the LORD,
And those who have not sought the LORD
And have not turned to Him.
7Be silent before my Lord GOD,
For the day of the LORD is approaching;
For the LORD has prepared a d-sacrificial feast,-d
Has bidden His guests purify themselves.
8And on the day of the LORD’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials
And the king’s sons,e
f-And all who don a foreign vestment.
9I will also punish on that day
Everyone who steps over the threshold,-f
Who fill their master’sg palace
With lawlessness and fraud.
10In that day there shall be
— declares the LORD—
A loud outcry from the Fish Gate,
And howling from the Mishneh,h
And a sound of great anguish from the hills.
11The dwellers of the Machteshi howl;
For all the tradesmen have perished,
All who weigh silver are wiped out.
12At that time,
I will search Jerusalem with lamps;
And I will punish the men
Who rest untroubled on their lees,
Who say to themselves,The LORD will do nothing, good or bad.’’ 13Their wealth shall be plundered And their homes laid waste. They shall build houses and not dwell in them, Plant vineyards and not drink their wine. 14The great day of the LORD is approaching, Approaching most swiftly. j-Hark, the day of the LORD! It is bitter: There a warrior shrieks!-j 15That day shall be a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of calamity and desolation, A day of darkness and deep gloom, A day of densest clouds, 16A day of horn blasts and alarms— Against the fortified towns And the lofty corner towers. 17I will bring distress on the people, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they sinned against the LORD; Their blood shall
