Habakkuk 2
The Lord instructs the prophet to write down the vision and make it clear, so that those who read it can understand and run with it, for it will be fulfilled in due time. The wicked will not find peace, but the righteous will live by their faith. The arrogant and greedy will be deceived and punished, and those who have oppressed others will be despoiled in turn. The Lord sees all the injustices and will judge those who build their cities and towns with blood and iniquity. The prophet warns against idolatry, saying that idols are useless and have no power, and that the Lord is the one who truly reigns from his holy temple.
1I will stand firm during my watch, and fix my position over the fortification. And I will observe carefully, to see what might be said to me and what I might respond to my opponent2And the Lord responded to me and said: Write the vision and explain it on tablets, so that he who reads it may run through it3For as yet the vision is far off, and it will appear in the end, and it will not lie. If it expresses any delay, wait for it. For it is arriving and it will arrive, and it will not be hindered4Behold, he who is unbelieving, his soul will not be right within himself; but he who is just shall live in his faith5And in the manner that wine deceives the heavy drinker, so will the arrogant man be deceived, and he will not be honored. He has enlarged his life like hellfire, and himself like death, and he is never fulfilled. And he will gather to himself all nations, and he will amass for himself all peoples6Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and an enigmatic utterance about him? And it will be said, "Woe to him who increases what is not his own." How long, then, will he lay down dense clay against himself7Shall they not suddenly rise up, who would bite you, and be stirred up, who would tear you, so that you will be a prey for them8Because you have despoiled many peoples, all those who are left of the people shall despoil you, because of the blood of men, and the iniquity of the earth, of the city and all who dwell therein9Woe to him who gathers together an evil greed for his house, so that his nest may be exalted, and thinking that he might free himself from the hand of evil10You have devised confusion for your house, you have cut to pieces many peoples, and your soul has sinned11For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the wood that is between the joints of the building will respond12Woe to him who builds a town with blood and prepares a city by iniquity13Are not these things before the Lord of hosts? For the people will labor amid a great fire, and the nations will labor in emptiness, and they will fail14For the earth shall be filled, that they might know the glory of the Lord, like the waters spreading over the sea15Woe to anyone who gives a drink to a friend, releasing a drug and inebriating, so as to look upon their nakedness16You are filled with disgrace in place of glory. So then, drink and fall fast asleep, for the cup of the right hand of the Lord will surround you, and a disgraceful vomit will cover your glory17For the iniquity of Lebanon will cover you, and the devastation of animals which will deter them from the blood of men, and the iniquity of the earth and the city, and of all who dwell therein18Of what benefit is the graven image? For its maker has formed it, a molten and imaginary deception. For its maker has hoped in a figment of his own creation, so as to make a dumb likeness19Woe to him who says to wood, "Awaken," to the silent stone, "Arise." Is it able to teach? Behold, it has been entirely covered with gold and silver; and there is no spirit at all in its inner workings20But the Lord is in his holy temple. May all the earth be silent before his face
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