Habakkuk 1:10
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.
9 All of them come bent on violence; their hordes advance like the east wind; they gather prisoners like sand.
They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and pass on through. They are guilty; their own strength is their god.”
12 Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O LORD, You have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, You have established them for correction.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.
- KJV
- 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.
- WEB
- Yes, they scoff at kings, and princes are a derision to them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they build up an earthen ramp and take it.
- ASV
- Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
- DARBY
- Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a scorn unto him; he derideth every stronghold: for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
- BLB
- And he mocks the kings, and princes [are] an object of scorn for him; at every fortification he laughs, and heaps up earth and seizes it.
- ÅB
- De spotter konger, og fyrster er til latter for dem; de ler av hver festning, de dynger jord opp mot den og tar den.
- OTB
- De spotter konger
og gjør fyrster til latter.
De ler av hver festning,
for de hoper opp jord og tar den. - B1930
- De spotter konger, og fyrster er til latter for dem; de ler av hver festning, de dynger jord op mot den og tar den.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
2 Chronicles 36:6
Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jehoiakim and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
Read in context2 Chronicles 36:10
In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Jehoiachin and brought him to Babylon, along with the articles of value from the house of the LORD. And he made Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Read in contextJeremiah 32:24
See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!
Read in contextIsaiah 14:16
Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble,
Read in contextJeremiah 33:4
For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for defense against the siege ramps and the sword:
Read in contextJeremiah 52:4–7
So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.
Read in context2 Kings 25:6–7
The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him.
Read in context2 Kings 24:12
Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.
Read in context