1I will go up to the lookout tower.
I’ll station myself on the city wall.
I’ll wait to see how the Lord will reply to me.
Then I’ll try to figure out how his reply answers what I’ve complained about.
The Lord Replies to Habakkuk
2The Lord replies,
“Write down the message I am giving you.
Write it clearly on the tablets you use.
Then a messenger can read it
and run to announce it.
3The message I give you
waits for the time I have appointed.
It speaks about what is going to happen.
And all of it will come true.
It might take a while.
But wait for it.
You can be sure it will come.
It will happen when I want it to.
4“The Babylonians are very proud.
What they want is not good.
“But the person who is godly
will live by his faithfulness.
5“Wine makes the Babylonians do foolish things.
They are proud. They never rest.
Like the grave, they are always hungry for more.
Like death, they are never satisfied.
They gather all the nations to themselves.
They take all those people away as prisoners.
6“Won’t those people laugh at the Babylonians? Won’t they make fun of them? They will say to them,
“ ‘How terrible it will be for you
who pile up stolen goods!
You get rich by cheating others.
How long will this go on?’
7Those you owe money to will suddenly rise up.
They will wake up
and make you tremble with fear.
Then they will take away
everything you have.
8You have robbed many nations.
So the nations that are left will rob you.
You have spilled human blood.
You have destroyed lands and cities
and everyone in them.
9“How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
They build their kingdom with money
that they gained by cheating others.
They have tried to make the kingdom
as secure as possible.
After all, they did not want to be destroyed.
10They have planned to wipe out many nations.
But they have brought shame on their own kingdom.
So they must pay with their own lives.
11The stones in the walls of their homes will cry out.
And the wooden beams will echo that cry.
12“How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
They build cities by spilling the blood of others.
They establish towns by doing what is wrong.
13I am the Lord who rules over all.
Human effort is no better than wood that feeds a fire.
So the nations wear themselves out for nothing.
14The oceans are full of water.
In the same way, the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of my glory.
15“How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
They give drinks to their neighbors.
They pour the drinks from wineskins
until their neighbors are drunk.
They want to look at their naked bodies.
16But the Babylonians will be filled
with shame instead of glory.
So now it is their turn to drink
and be stripped of their clothes.
The cup of anger in my powerful right hand
is going to punish them.
They will be covered with shame instead of glory.
17The harm they have done to Lebanon
will bring them down.
Because they have killed so many animals,
animals will terrify them.
They have spilled human blood.
They have destroyed lands and cities
and everyone in them.
18“If someone carves a statue of a god, what is it worth?
What value is there in a god
that teaches lies?
The one who trusts in this kind of god
worships his own creation.
He makes statues of gods that can’t speak.
19How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
They say to a wooden god, ‘Come to life!’
They say to a stone god, ‘Wake up!’
Can those gods give advice?
They are covered with gold and silver.
They can’t even breathe.”
20The Lord is in his holy temple.
Let the whole earth be silent in front of him.
12:1 Isa 21:8; Za 48:13; 85:8; Eze 3:17; Za 73:16, 17; 5:3Nitasimama katika zamu yangu,
na kujiweka mwenyewe juu ya maboma;
nitatazama nione atakaloniambia,
na ni jibu gani nitakalotoa kuhusu lalamiko hili.
Jibu La Bwana
22:2 Isa 8:1; 30:8; Kum 27:8; Rum 4:24; 15:4; Yer 36:2; Eze 24:2; Ufu 1:19Kisha Bwana akajibu:
“Andika ufunuo huu,
na ukaufanye wazi juu ya vibao,
ili mpiga mbiu akimbie nao.
32:3 Dan 10:14; 11:27; 8:17; Za 27:14; Eze 12:25Kwa kuwa ufunuo huu unasubiri wakati uliokubalika;
unazungumzia mambo ya mwisho,
na kamwe hautakosea.
Iwapo utakawia, wewe usubiri;
kwa hakika utakuja na hautachelewa.
42:4 Eze 18:9; Yn 3:36; 2Kor 5:7; Rum 1:17; Gal 3:11; Ebr 10:37-38“Tazama, amejaa majivuno;
anavyovitamani si vya unyofu:
lakini mwenye haki ataishi kwa imani yake:
52:5 Mit 20:1; Isa 2:11; Mit 27:20; 30:15-16; Hab 1:9hakika mvinyo humsaliti;
ni mwenye kiburi na hana amani.
Kwa sababu ni mlafi kama kuzimu
na kama kifo kamwe hatosheki;
anajikusanyia mataifa yote
na kuchukua watu wote mateka.
62:6 Isa 14:4; Amo 2:8“Je, watu wote hawatamsuta kwa dhihaka na kumbeza, wakisema,
“ ‘Ole wake yeye akusanyaye bidhaa zilizoibwa
na kujifanyia utajiri kwa kutoza kwa nguvu!
Ataendelea hivi kwa muda gani?’
72:7 Mit 29:1Je, wadai wako hawatainuka ghafula?
Je, hawataamka na kukufanya utetemeke?
Kisha utakuwa mhanga kwao.
82:8 Zek 1:122:8 Isa 33:1; Yer 50:17-18; Oba 1:15; Zek 2:8-9; Eze 39:10Kwa kuwa umeteka nyara mataifa mengi,
watu waliobaki watakuteka nyara wewe.
Kwa kuwa umemwaga damu ya mtu;
umeharibu nchi na miji, na kila mmoja ndani yake.
92:9 Yer 22:13; 51:13; Ay 39:27; Isa 10:14“Ole wake yeye ajengaye milki yake kwa mapato ya udhalimu,
awekaye kiota chake juu,
ili kukimbia makucha ya uharibifu!
102:10 Yer 26:19; Nah 3:6Umefanya shauri la maangamizi ya watu wengi,
ukiaibisha nyumba yako mwenyewe, na kupotewa na maisha yako.
112:11 Yos 24:27; Zek 5:4; Lk 19:40Mawe ya kuta yatapiga kelele,
na mihimili ya kazi ya mbao itarudisha mwangwi wake.
122:12 Eze 22:2; Mik 3:10“Ole wake yeye ajengaye mji kwa kumwaga
damu na kuusimamisha mji kwa uhalifu!
132:13 Isa 50:11; 47:13Je, Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote hakuonyesha
kwamba kazi ya wanadamu ni mafuta tu kwa ajili ya moto,
na kwamba mataifa
yanajichosha bure?
142:14 Kut 16:7; Hes 14:21; Isa 11:9Kwa kuwa dunia itajazwa na maarifa ya utukufu wa Bwana,
kama maji yaifunikavyo bahari.
152:15 Mit 23:20“Ole wake yeye awapaye jirani zake kileo,
akiimimina kutoka kwenye kiriba
cha mvinyo mpaka wamelewa,
ili apate kutazama miili yao iliyo uchi.
162:16 Eze 23:32-34; Hos 4:7; Law 10:9; Mao 4:21; Za 16:5; Isa 51:22Utajazwa na aibu badala ya utukufu.
Sasa ni zamu yako! Kunywa na ujifunue!
Kikombe kutoka kwenye mkono wa kuume wa Bwana kinakujia,
na aibu itafunika utukufu wako.
172:17 Yer 50:33; 51:35; 50:15Ukatili ulioifanyia Lebanoni utakufunika,
na uharibifu uliowafanyia wanyama utakutisha.
Kwa sababu umemwaga damu ya mtu;
umeharibu nchi na miji na kila mmoja aliyeko ndani yake.
182:18 1Sam 12:21; Amu 10:14; Isa 40:19; Yer 5:21; 14:22; 10:14; 1Kor 12:2“Sanamu ina thamani gani,
kwani mwanadamu ndiye alichonga?
Ama kinyago kinachofundisha uongo?
Kwa kuwa yeye aliyekitengeneza
hutegemea kazi ya mikono yake mwenyewe;
hutengeneza sanamu zisizoweza kuzungumza.
192:19 1Fal 18:27; Yer 10:4; Hos 4:12; Dan 5:4, 23Ole wake yeye auambiaye mti, ‘Uwe hai!’
Ama asemaye na jiwe lisilo na uhai, ‘Amka!’
Je, linaweza kuongoza?
Limefunikwa kwa dhahabu na fedha;
hakuna pumzi ndani yake.
202:20 Za 11:4; Isa 41:1Lakini Bwana yuko katika Hekalu lake takatifu;
dunia yote na inyamaze mbele yake.”
