1. The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2. How long, Adonai, have I cried for help, yet You do not hear? I cry out to You—‘Violence!’ yet You do not deliver.
3. Why do You show me wickedness, and why must I behold mischief? Yes, devastation and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention arises.
4. Therefore, Torah has no effect, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked encircle the righteous Therefore justice comes out perverted.
5. “Look among the nations! Observe! Astonish yourself! Be astounded! For a work is being done in your days. You will not believe it if it were told.
6. For I am about to raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter, impetuous nation, marching all over the land, to seize dwellings not its own.
7. Dreadful and terrifying, Its justice and dignity derive from itself.
8. Its horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Its horsemen come galloping. Its horsemen are coming from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to eat.