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Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah

¹ The ^(C1)pronouncement which Habakkuk the prophet saw:

^2 (C1)How long, LORD, have I called for help,
And You do not hear?
I cry out to You, "Violence!"
Yet You do ^(C2)not save.

³ Why do You make me ^(C1)see disaster,
And make me look at destitution?
Yes, ^(C2)devastation and violence are before me;
^(C3)Strife exists and contention arises.

⁴ Therefore the ^(C1)Law ^(F1)is ignored,
And justice ^(F2)is never upheld.
For the wicked ^(C2)surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out ^(C3)confused.

⁵ "^(C1)Look among the nations! Watch!
Be horrified! ^(C2)Be frightened speechless!
For I am accomplishing ^(C3)a work in your days—
You would not believe it even if ^(F1)you were told!

⁶ "For behold, I am ^(C1)raising up the Chaldeans,
That ^(F1)grim and impetuous people
Who march ^(F2)throughout the earth,
To ^(C2)take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs.

⁷ "They are terrifying and ^(C1)feared;
Their ^(C2)justice and ^(F1)authority ^(F2)originate with themselves.

⁸ "Their ^(C1)horses are faster than leopards,
And quicker than ^(C2)wolves in the evening.
Their ^(F1)horsemen charge along,
Their ^(F1)horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an ^(C3)eagle ^(F2)swooping down to devour.

⁹ "All of them come for violence.
^(F1)Their horde of ^(C1)faces moves forward.
They gather captives like sand.

¹⁰ "They ^(C1)make fun of kings,
And dignitaries are an object of laughter to them.
They ^(C2)laugh at every fortress,
Then ^(C3)heap up dirt and ^(F1)capture it.

¹¹ "Then they fly along like the ^(C1)wind and pass on.
But they will be held ^(C2)guilty,
They whose ^(C3)strength is their god."

¹² Are You not from ^(C1)time everlasting,
LORD, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, LORD, have ^(C2)appointed them to deliver judgment;
And You, O ^(C3)Rock, have destined them to punish.

¹³ Your eyes are too ^(C1)pure to look at evil,
And You cannot look at harm favorably.
Why do You ^(C2)look favorably
At those who deal ^(C3)treacherously?
Why are You ^(C4)silent when the wicked ^(C5)swallow up
Those more righteous than they?

¹⁴ Why have You made people like the fish of the sea,
Like crawling things that have no ruler over them?

¹⁵ The Chaldeans ^(C1)bring all of them up with a hook,
^(C2)Drag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they rejoice and are joyful.

¹⁶ Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And ^(F1)burn incense to their fishing net,
Because through ^(C1)these things their ^(F2)catch is ^(F3)large,
And their food is ^(F4)plentiful.

¹⁷ Will they therefore empty their ^(C1)net,
And continually ^(C2)slay nations without sparing?