Habakuk 1:3

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

Why do you put up with wrongdoing? ² 

Destruction and violence confront ³  me;

conflict is present and one must endure strife. ⁴ 

Habakuk 1:6

1:6 Look, I am about to empower ⁵  the Babylonians,

that ruthless ⁶  and greedy ⁷  nation.

They sweep across the surface ⁸  of the earth,

seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.

Habakuk 2:9

2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. ⁹ 

He does this so he can build his nest way up high

and escape the clutches of disaster. ¹⁰ 

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

[1:3]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “are before.”

[1:3]  ⁴ 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”).

[1:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “hasty, quick.” Some translate here “impetuous” (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rash,” but in this context greed may very well be the idea. The Babylonians move quickly and recklessly ahead in their greedy quest to expand their empire.

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “the open spaces.”

[2:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”

[2:9]  sn Here the Babylonians are compared to a bird, perhaps an eagle, that builds its nest in an inaccessible high place where predators cannot reach it.