God Answers the Prophet

1I will stand on my guard post

And station myself on the rampart;

And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,

And how I may reply when I am reproved.

2Then the Lord answered me and said,

“Record the vision

And inscribe it on tablets,

That the one who reads it may run.

3For the vision is yet for the appointed time;

It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.

Though it tarries, wait for it;

For it will certainly come, it will not delay.

4“Behold, as for the proud one,

His soul is not right within him;

But the righteous will live by his faith.

5Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man,

So that he does not stay at home.

He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,

And he is like death, never satisfied.

He also gathers to himself all nations

And collects to himself all peoples.

6“Will not all of these take up a taunt-song against him,

Even mockery and insinuations against him

And say, ‘Woe to him who increases what is not his—

For how long—

And makes himself rich with loans?’

7Will not your creditors rise up suddenly,

And those who collect from you awaken?

Indeed, you will become plunder for them.

8Because you have looted many nations,

All the remainder of the peoples will loot you—

Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,

To the town and all its inhabitants.

9“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house

To put his nest on high,

To be delivered from the hand of calamity!

10You have devised a shameful thing for your house

By cutting off many peoples;

So you are sinning against yourself.

11Surely the stone will cry out from the wall,

And the rafter will answer it from the framework.

12“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed

And founds a town with violence!

13Is it not indeed from the Lord of hosts

That peoples toil for fire,

And nations grow weary for nothing?

14For the earth will be filled

With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,

As the waters cover the sea.

15“Woe to you who make your neighbors drink,

Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk

So as to look on their nakedness!

16You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.

Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness.

The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you,

And utter disgrace will come upon your glory.

17For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,

And the devastation of its beasts by which you terrified them,

Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,

To the town and all its inhabitants.

18“What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it,

Or an image, a teacher of falsehood?

For its maker trusts in his own handiwork

When he fashions speechless idols.

19Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’

To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’

And that is your teacher?

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,

And there is no breath at all inside it.

20But the Lord is in His holy temple.

Let all the earth be silent before Him.”

Exhortation

7Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

1) How does Habakkuk teach patience for יהוה’s promises?

2) How does James link patience to Messiah’s return?

3) How do these encourage you when waiting for יהוה to act?

Eliphaz: Innocent Do Not Suffer

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

2“If one ventures a word with you, will you become impatient?

But who can refrain from speaking?

3Behold you have admonished many,

And you have strengthened weak hands.

4Your words have helped the tottering to stand,

And you have strengthened feeble knees.

5But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

It touches you, and you are dismayed.

6Is not your fear of God your confidence,

And the integrity of your ways your hope?

7“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?

Or where were the upright destroyed?

8According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity

And those who sow trouble harvest it.

9By the breath of God they perish,

And by the blast of His anger they come to an end.

10The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion,

And the teeth of the young lions are broken.

11The lion perishes for lack of prey,

And the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

12“Now a word was brought to me stealthily,

And my ear received a whisper of it.

13Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,

When deep sleep falls on men,

14Dread came upon me, and trembling,

And made all my bones shake.

15Then a spirit passed by my face;

The hair of my flesh bristled up.

16It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance;

A form was before my eyes;

There was silence, then I heard a voice:

17‘Can mankind be just before God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker?

18He puts no trust even in His servants;

And against His angels He charges error.

19How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

Whose foundation is in the dust,

Who are crushed before the moth!

20Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces;

Unobserved, they perish forever.

21Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them?

They die, yet without wisdom.’

PSALM 145

The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.

A Psalm of Praise, of David.

1I will extol You, my God, O King,

And I will bless Your name forever and ever.

2Every day I will bless You,

And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

3Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,

And His greatness is unsearchable.

4One generation shall praise Your works to another,

And shall declare Your mighty acts.

5On the glorious splendor of Your majesty

And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.

6Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,

And I will tell of Your greatness.

7They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness

And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

8The Lord is gracious and merciful;

Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

9The Lord is good to all,

And His mercies are over all His works.

10All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,

And Your godly ones shall bless You.

11They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom

And talk of Your power;

12To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts

And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.

13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

14The Lord sustains all who fall

And raises up all who are bowed down.

15The eyes of all look to You,

And You give them their food in due time.

16You open Your hand

And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17The Lord is righteous in all His ways

And kind in all His deeds.

18The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth.

19He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He will also hear their cry and will save them.

20The Lord keeps all who love Him,

But all the wicked He will destroy.

21My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah

1The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

2How long, O Lord, will I call for help,

And You will not hear?

I cry out to You, “Violence!”

Yet You do not save.

3Why do You make me see iniquity,

And cause me to look on wickedness?

Yes, destruction and violence are before me;

Strife exists and contention arises.

4Therefore the law is ignored

And justice is never upheld.

For the wicked surround the righteous;

Therefore justice comes out perverted.

5“Look among the nations! Observe!

Be astonished! Wonder!

Because I am doing something in your days—

You would not believe if you were told.

6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,

That fierce and impetuous people

Who march throughout the earth

To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.

7They are dreaded and feared;

Their justice and authority originate with themselves.

8Their horses are swifter than leopards

And keener than wolves in the evening.

Their horsemen come galloping,

Their horsemen come from afar;

They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.

9All of them come for violence.

Their horde of faces moves forward.

They collect captives like sand.

10They mock at kings

And rulers are a laughing matter to them.

They laugh at every fortress

And heap up rubble to capture it.

11Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on.

But they will be held guilty,

They whose strength is their god.”

12Are You not from everlasting,

O Lord, my God, my Holy One?

We will not die.

You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge;

And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.

13Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,

And You can not look on wickedness with favor.

Why do You look with favor

On those who deal treacherously?

Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up

Those more righteous than they?

14Why have You made men like the fish of the sea,

Like creeping things without a ruler over them?

15The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook,

Drag them away with their net,

And gather them together in their fishing net.

Therefore they rejoice and are glad.

16Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net

And burn incense to their fishing net;

Because through these things their catch is large,

And their food is plentiful.

17Will they therefore empty their net

And continually slay nations without sparing?