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¹ The burden which Habakkuk ye Prophet did see. ² O Lord, howe long shall I crie, and thou wilt not heare! euen cry out vnto thee of violence, and thou wilt not saue? ³ Why doest thou shew me iniquity, & cause me to behold grieuance? for spoiling and violence are before me: & there are that raise vp strife and contention. ⁴ Therefore the Lawe is slacked, and iudgement doeth neuer goe foorth: for the wicked doeth compasse about the righteous: therfore wrong iudgement proceedeth.

⁵ Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marueilously: for I wil worke a worke in your daies, which yee will not beleeue, though it be tolde you. ⁶ For loe, I raise vp the Caldeans, that bitter and hastie nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possesse the dwelling places that are not theirs. ⁷ They are terrible and dreadfull: their iudgement and their dignity shal proceed of themselues. ⁸ Their horses also are swifter then the leopards, and are more fierce then the euening wolues: & their horsemen shall spread themselues, and their horsemen shall come from farre, they shall flie as the Eagle that hasteth to eate. ⁹ They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup vp as the East winde, and they shall gather the captiuitie as the sand. ¹⁰ And they shal scoffe at the Kings, and the Princes shall bee a scorne vnto them: they shall deride euery strong holde, for they shall heape dust & take it. ¹¹ Then shall his minde change, and he shall passe ouer, and offend, imputing this his power vnto his God.

¹² Art thou not from euerlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy one? we shall not die: O Lord, thou hast ordained them for iudgement, and O mightie God, thou hast established them for correction. ¹³ Thou art of purer eyes then to beholde euill, and canst not looke on ininquitie: wherefore lookest thou vpon them that deale treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked deuoureth the man that is more righteous then hee? ¹⁴ And makest men as the fishes of the Sea, as the creeping things, that haue no ruler ouer them. ¹⁵ They take vp all of them with the angle: they catch them in their net, and gather them in their dragge; therefore they reioyce and are glad. ¹⁶ Therefore they sacrifice vnto their net, and burne incense vnto their drag: because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. ¹⁷ Shall they therefore emptie their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?