Habakuk 1:17

1:17 Will he then ¹  continue to fill and empty his throw net? ² 

Will he always ³  destroy ⁴  nations and spare none? ⁵ 

Habakuk 2:19

2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead ⁶  –

he who says ⁷  to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’

Can it give reliable guidance? ⁸ 

It is overlaid with gold and silver;

it has no life’s breath inside it.

Habakuk 3:8

3:8 Is the Lord mad at the rivers?

Are you angry with the rivers?

Are you enraged at the sea? ⁹ 

Is this why ¹⁰  you climb into your horse-drawn chariots, ¹¹ 

your victorious chariots? ¹² 

Habakuk 1:3

1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? ¹³ 

Why do you put up with wrongdoing? ¹⁴ 

Destruction and violence confront ¹⁵  me;

conflict is present and one must endure strife. ¹⁶ 

[1:17]  ¹ tn Or “therefore.”

[1:17]  ² tn Heb “Will he then empty his throw net?” The words “continue to fill and” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:17]  ³ tn Or “continually.”

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “kill.”

[1:17]  ⁵ tn Or “without showing compassion.”

[2:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who says.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

[2:19]  ⁷ tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.

[2:19]  ⁸ tn Though the Hebrew text has no formal interrogative marker here, the context indicates that the statement should be taken as a rhetorical question anticipating the answer, “Of course not!” (so also NIV, NRSV).

[3:8]  ⁹ sn The following context suggests these questions should be answered, “Yes.” The rivers and the sea, symbolizing here the hostile nations (v. 12), are objects of the Lord’s anger (vv. 10, 15).

[3:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so that.” Here כִּי (ki) is resultative. See the note on the phrase “make it” in 2:18.

[3:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you mount your horses.” As the next line makes clear, the Lord is pictured here as a charioteer, not a cavalryman. Note NRSV here, “when you drove your horses, // your chariots to victory.”

[3:8]  ¹² tn Or “chariots of deliverance.”

[1:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “Why do you make me see injustice?”

[1:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Why do you look at wrongdoing?”

[1:3]  sn Habakkuk complains that God tolerates social injustice and fails to intervene on behalf of the oppressed (put up with wrongdoing).

[1:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “are before.”

[1:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and there is conflict and strife he lifts up.” The present translation takes the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) in the sense of “carry, bear,” and understands the subject to be indefinite (“one”).