Habakkuk 1:4
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.
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.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
- KJV
- Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
- WEB
- Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.
- ASV
- Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted.
- DARBY
- Therefore the law is powerless, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked encompasseth the righteous; therefore judgment goeth forth perverted.
- BLB
- Over this, the law is numb, and justice does not go forth forever. For the wicked are surrounding the righteous. Upon thus, twisted justice goes forth.
- ÅB
- Derfor er loven maktesløs, og retten kommer aldri fram; for ugudelige omringer den rettferdige, derfor kommer retten fram forvendt.
- OTB
- Derfor er loven uten kraft,
og rettferdighet kommer aldri fram.
De ugudelige omringer de rettferdige,
så rettferdigheten blir forvrengt. - B1930
- Derfor er loven maktesløs, og retten kommer aldri frem; for ugudelige omringer den rettferdige, derfor kommer retten frem forvendt.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Psalms 94:20–21
Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
Read in contextIsaiah 1:21–23
How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Read in contextPsalms 119:126
It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
Read in contextJob 21:7
Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
Read in contextEzekiel 9:9
Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
Read in contextJeremiah 12:1
Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
Read in contextIsaiah 5:20
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Read in contextIsaiah 59:13–15
In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Read in context