1This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received.
2Yahweh, how long must I call for help before you listen? I cry out to you about violence, but you don't save me!
3Why do you make me see evil and look at wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around me. There is conflict, and arguments are always breaking out.
4That's why the law loses its power, and justice never wins. The wicked surround the righteous, so justice is twisted.
5"Look among the nations, watch closely, and be amazed beyond belief. I am doing something in your days that you won't believe, even when it's explained to you.
6Because I am raising up the Babylonians, that harsh and impulsive nation, who will march across the entire earth to take over homes that don't belong to them.
7They are feared and terrifying. Their power and authority come from themselves.
8Their horses are faster than leopards and more fierce than wolves at evening. Their horsemen charge proudly. Yes, their horsemen come from far away. They swoop down like an eagle rushing to devour its prey.
9They all come for violence. Their hordes sweep through the desert, gathering prisoners like sand.
10Yes, he makes fun of kings, and rulers are a joke to him. He laughs at every fortified city, because he builds up an earthen ramp and captures it.
11Then he sweeps by like the wind and moves on. He is indeed guilty, for his own strength is his god."
12Aren't you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.
13You are too pure to look at evil and cannot stand to see wrongdoing. So why do you tolerate those who act treacherously? Why do you stay silent when the wicked swallow up those who are more righteous than they are?
14You make people like the fish of the sea, like the crawling creatures that have no ruler over them?
15He catches all of them with his hook. He pulls them in with his net and gathers them in his fishing net. That's why he rejoices and is glad.
16Therefore, he offers sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his fishing net, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is plentiful.
17Will he therefore keep emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations?