1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. 2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! |even| cry out unto thee |of| violence, and thou wilt not save! 3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause |me| to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence |are| before me: and there are |that| raise up strife and contention. 4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. 5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for |I| will work a work in your days, |which| ye will not believe, though it be told |you|. 6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, |that| bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces |that are| not theirs. 7 They |are| terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. 8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle |that| hasteth to eat. 9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up |as| the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. 10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it. 11 Then shall |his| mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, |imputing| this his power unto his god. 12 |Art| thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. 13 |Thou art| of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, |and| holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth |the man that is| more righteous than he? 14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, |that have| no ruler over them? 15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. 16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion |is| fat, and their meat plenteous. 17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?