1. THE BURDEN or oracle (the thing to be lifted up) which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2. O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and You will not hear? Or cry out to You of violence and You will not save?
3. Why do You show me iniquity and wrong, and Yourself look upon or cause me to see perverseness and trouble? For destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention arises.
4. Therefore the law is slackened and justice and a righteous sentence never go forth, for the [hostility of the] wicked surrounds the [uncompromisingly] righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.