nkjv Habakkuk:1-3 SEEK
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The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw .
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O LORD ,
how long shall I cry ,
And You will not hear ?
Even cry out to You , "
Violence !"
And You will not save .
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Why do You show me iniquity ,
And cause me to see trouble ?
For plundering and violence are before me ;
There is strife ,
and contention arises .
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Therefore the law is powerless ,
And justice never goes forth .
For the wicked surround the righteous ;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds .
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Look among the nations and watch --
Be utterly astounded !
For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe ,
though it were told you .
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For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans ,
A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth ,
To possess dwelling places that are not theirs .
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They are terrible and dreadful ;
Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves .
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Their horses also are swifter than leopards ,
And more fierce than evening wolves .
Their chargers charge ahead ;
Their cavalry comes from afar ;
They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat .
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They all come for violence ;
Their faces are set like the east wind .
They gather captives like sand .
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They scoff at kings ,
And princes are scorned by them .
They deride every stronghold ,
For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it .
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Then his mind changes ,
and he transgresses ;
He commits offense ,
Ascribing this power to his god ."
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Are You not from everlasting ,
O LORD my God ,
my Holy One ?
We shall not die .
O LORD ,
You have appointed them for judgment ;
O Rock ,
You have marked them for correction .
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You are of purer eyes than to behold evil ,
And cannot look on wickedness .
Why do You look on those who deal treacherously ,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours A person more righteous than he ?
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Why do You make men like fish of the sea ,
Like creeping things that have no ruler over them ?
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They take up all of them with a hook ,
They catch them in their net ,
And gather them in their dragnet .
Therefore they rejoice and are glad .
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Therefore they sacrifice to their net ,
And burn incense to their dragnet ;
Because by them their share is sumptuous And their food plentiful .
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Shall they therefore empty their net ,
And continue to slay nations without pity ?
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I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart ,
And watch to see what He will say to me ,
And what I will answer when I am corrected .
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Then the LORD answered me and said : "
Write the vision And make it plain on tablets ,
That he may run who reads it .
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For the vision is yet for an appointed time ;
But at the end it will speak ,
and it will not lie .
Though it tarries ,
wait for it ;
Because it will surely come ,
It will not tarry .
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Behold the proud ,
His soul is not upright in him ;
But the just shall live by his faith .
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Indeed ,
because he transgresses by wine ,
He is a proud man ,
And he does not stay at home .
Because he enlarges his desire as hell ,
And he is like death ,
and cannot be satisfied ,
He gathers to himself all nations And heaps up for himself all peoples .
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Will not all these take up a proverb against him ,
And a taunting riddle against him ,
and say , "
Woe to him who increases What is not his--how long ?
And to him who loads himself with many pledges '?
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Will not your creditors rise up suddenly ?
Will they not awaken who oppress you ?
And you will become their booty .
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Because you have plundered many nations ,
All the remnant of the people shall plunder you ,
Because of men '
s blood And the violence of the land and the city ,
And of all who dwell in it .
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Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house ,
That he may set his nest on high ,
That he may be delivered from the power of disaster !
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You give shameful counsel to your house ,
Cutting off many peoples ,
And sin against your soul .
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For the stone will cry out from the wall ,
And the beam from the timbers will answer it .
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Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed ,
Who establishes a city by iniquity !
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Behold ,
is it not of the LORD of hosts That the peoples labor to feed the fire ,
And nations weary themselves in vain ?
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For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD ,
As the waters cover the sea .
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Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor ,
Pressing him to your bottle ,
Even to make him drunk ,
That you may look on his nakedness !
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You are filled with shame instead of glory .
You also--drink !
And be exposed as uncircumcised !
The cup of the LORD '
s right hand will be turned against you ,
And utter shame will be on your glory .
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For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you ,
And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid ,
Because of men '
s blood And the violence of the land and the city ,
And of all who dwell in it .
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What profit is the image ,
that its maker should carve it ,
The molded image ,
a teacher of lies ,
That the maker of its mold should trust in it ,
To make mute idols ?
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Woe to him who says to wood , "
Awake !'
To silent stone , "
Arise !
It shall teach !'
Behold ,
it is overlaid with gold and silver ,
Yet in it there is no breath at all .
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But the LORD is in His holy temple .
Let all the earth keep silence before Him ."
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A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet ,
on Shigionoth .
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O LORD ,
I have heard Your speech and was afraid ;
O LORD ,
revive Your work in the midst of the years !
In the midst of the years make it known ;
In wrath remember mercy .
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God came from Teman ,
The Holy One from Mount Paran .
Selah His glory covered the heavens ,
And the earth was full of His praise .
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His brightness was like the light ;
He had rays flashing from His hand ,
And there His power was hidden .
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Before Him went pestilence ,
And fever followed at His feet .
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He stood and measured the earth ;
He looked and startled the nations .
And the everlasting mountains were scattered ,
The perpetual hills bowed .
His ways are everlasting .
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I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction ;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled .
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O LORD ,
were You displeased with the rivers ,
Was Your anger against the rivers ,
Was Your wrath against the sea ,
That You rode on Your horses ,
Your chariots of salvation ?
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Your bow was made quite ready ;
Oaths were sworn over Your arrows .
Selah You divided the earth with rivers .
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The mountains saw You and trembled ;
The overflowing of the water passed by .
The deep uttered its voice ,
And lifted its hands on high .
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The sun and moon stood still in their habitation ;
At the light of Your arrows they went ,
At the shining of Your glittering spear .
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You marched through the land in indignation ;
You trampled the nations in anger .
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You went forth for the salvation of Your people ,
For salvation with Your Anointed .
You struck the head from the house of the wicked ,
By laying bare from foundation to neck .
Selah
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You thrust through with his own arrows The head of his villages .
They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me ;
Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret .
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You walked through the sea with Your horses ,
Through the heap of great waters .
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When I heard ,
my body trembled ;
My lips quivered at the voice ;
Rottenness entered my bones ;
And I trembled in myself ,
That I might rest in the day of trouble .
When he comes up to the people ,
He will invade them with his troops .
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Though the fig tree may not blossom ,
Nor fruit be on the vines ;
Though the labor of the olive may fail ,
And the fields yield no food ;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold ,
And there be no herd in the stalls --
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Yet I will rejoice in the LORD ,
I will joy in the God of my salvation .
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The LORD God is my strength ;
He will make my feet like deer '
s feet ,
And He will make me walk on my high hills .
To the Chief Musician .
With my stringed instruments .