HOLY BIBLE: Habakkuk 1 (original) (raw)

12 οὐχὶ σὺ ἀ{P'} ἀρχῆς κύριε ὁ θεὸς ὁ ἅγιός μου καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνωμεν κύριε εἰς κρίμα τέταχας αὐτόν καὶ ἔπλασέν με τοῦ ἐλέγχειν παιδείαν αὐτοῦ 13 καθαρὸς ὀφθαλμὸς τοῦ μὴ ὁρᾶν πονηρά καὶ ἐπιβλέπειν ἐπὶ πόνους οὐ δυνήσῃ ἵνα τί ἐπιβλέπεις ἐπὶ καταφρονοῦντας παρασιωπήσῃ ἐν τῷ καταπίνειν ἀσεβῆ τὸν δίκαιον 14 καὶ ποιήσεις τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὡς τοὺς ἰχθύας τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ ὡς τὰ ἑρπετὰ τὰ οὐκ ἔχοντα ἡγούμενον 15 συντέλειαν ἐν ἀγκίστρῳ ἀνέσπασεν καὶ εἵλκυσεν αὐτὸν ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ καὶ συνήγαγεν αὐτὸν ἐν ταῖς σαγήναις αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν τούτου εὐφρανθήσεται καὶ χαρήσεται ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ 16 ἕνεκεν τούτου θύσει τῇ σαγήνῃ αὐτοῦ καὶ θυμιάσει τῷ ἀμφιβλήστρῳ αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐλίπανεν μερίδα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ βρώματα αὐτοῦ ἐκλεκτά 17 διὰ τοῦτο ἀμφιβαλεῖ τὸ ἀμφίβληστρον αὐτοῦ καὶ διὰ παντὸς ἀποκτέννειν ἔθνη οὐ φείσεται

12 But thou, Lord, my God and all my worship, thou art from eternity! And wilt thou see us perish? Warrant of thine they hold, take their strength from thee, only to make known thy justice, thy chastening power![5] 13 So pure those eyes, shall they feast on wrong-doing? Wilt thou brook the sight of oppression, look on while treason is done? Innocence the prey of malice, and no word from thee? 14 As well had men been fishes in the sea, or creeping things, that ruler have none! 15 And indeed it nothing spares, hook of yonder Chaldaean; seine and drag he spreads for all, and great joy has he of his sport. 16 Nay, seine must have its victims, incense be offered to drag; whom else thanks he for the rich fare on his plate, viands most dainty? 17 Trust me, wider still yonder net shall be flung; sword of his will never have done with massacre.

12

Numquid non tu a principio,
Domine, Deus meus, sancte meus,
et non moriemur?
Domine, in judicium posuisti eum,
et fortem, ut corriperes, fundasti eum.

13
Mundi sunt oculi tui, ne videas malum,
et respicere ad iniquitatem non poteris.
Quare respicis super iniqua agentes,
et taces devorante impio justiorem se? 14
Et facies homines quasi pisces maris,
et quasi reptile non habens principem. 15
Totum in hamo sublevavit,
traxit illud in sagena sua,
et congregavit in rete suum.
Super hoc lætabitur, et exsultabit. 16
Propterea immolabit sagenæ suæ,
et sacrificabit reti suo,
quia in ipsis incrassata est pars ejus,
et cibus ejus electus. 17
Propter hoc ergo expandit sagenam suam,
et semper interficere gentes non parcet.

[1] ‘Are torn up’; according to the Hebrew text, ‘have lost their vigour’. The reference to teaching (that is, of the Law) shews that these verses refer to misdoings among God’s own people. But the prophet only cites these as an instance of man’s inhumanity to man in general.

[2] These verses, 5-11, put into the mouth of Almighty God, are a preface to Habacuc’s own protest against the barbarity of the Chaldaeans. Probably, although they are cast into the prophetic form, they represent facts which had already taken place at the time when this prophecy was made; Habacuc seems to have lived under the captivity (Dan. 14.32).

[3] The Hebrew text here is obscure; some think it means the Chaldaeans had their faces set towards the east, or perhaps simply ‘forward’.

[4] Literally, ‘Then a wind (or spirit) will be changed, and he (or it) will pass by, and he will fall down; this is the strength of his god’. The Hebrew text, which is slightly different, gives a doubtful sense and is perhaps corrupt.

[5] It is not clear whether this means God has raised up the Chaldaeans in order to punish the Jews, or in order to exhibit his justice by punishing, later, the Chaldaeans themselves.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd