1. The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2. O Yahweh, how long shall I cry for help and you will not listen? How long will I cry out to you, “Violence!” and you will not save?
3. Why do you cause me to see evil while you look at trouble? Destruction and violence happen before me; contention and strife arise.
4. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice does not go forth perpetually. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.
5. “Look among the nations and see; be astonished and astounded. For a work is about to be done in your days that you will not believe if it is told.
6. For look! I am raising up the Chaldeans, the bitter and impetuous nation, the one who walks through the spacious places of earth to take possession of dwellings not belonging to it.
7. They are dreadful and awesome; their justice and their dignity proceed from themselves.
8. Their horses are more swift than leopards; they are more menacing than wolves at dusk. Their horsemen gallop; their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle that is swift to devour.