61 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
61 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 1
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1 This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.
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2 How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
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But you do not listen!
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“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,
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but you do not come to save.
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3 Must I forever see these evil deeds?
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Why must I watch all this misery?
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Wherever I look,
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I see destruction and violence.
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I am surrounded by people
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who love to argue and fight.
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4 The law has become paralyzed,
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and there is no justice in the courts.
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The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
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so that justice has become perverted.
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5 The Lord replied,
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“Look around at the nations;
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look and be amazed!
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For I am doing something in your own day,
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something you wouldn’t believe
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even if someone told you about it.
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6 I am raising up the Babylonians,
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a cruel and violent people.
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They will march across the world
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and conquer other lands.
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7 They are notorious for their cruelty
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and do whatever they like.
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8 Their horses are swifter than cheetahs
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and fiercer than wolves at dusk.
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Their charioteers charge from far away.
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Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.
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9 “On they come, all bent on violence.
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Their hordes advance like a desert wind,
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sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.
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10 They scoff at kings and princes
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and scorn all their fortresses.
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They simply pile ramps of earth
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against their walls and capture them!
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11 They sweep past like the wind
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and are gone.
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But they are deeply guilty,
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for their own strength is their god.”
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12 O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—
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surely you do not plan to wipe us out?
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O Lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us,
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to punish us for our many sins.
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13 But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.
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Will you wink at their treachery?
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Should you be silent while the wicked
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swallow up people more righteous than they?
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14 Are we only fish to be caught and killed?
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Are we only sea creatures that have no leader?
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15 Must we be strung up on their hooks
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and caught in their nets while they rejoice and celebrate?
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16 Then they will worship their nets
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and burn incense in front of them.
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“These nets are the gods who have made us rich!”
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they will claim.
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17 Will you let them get away with this forever?
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Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests? |