1. The burden that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2. How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will not heed? Shall I shout to you while suffering violence, and you will not save?
3. Why have you revealed to me iniquity and hardship, to see plunder and injustice opposite me? And there has been judgment, but the opposition is more powerful.
4. Because of this, the law has been torn apart, and judgment does not persevere to its conclusion. For the impious prevail against the just. Because of this, a perverse judgment is issued.
5. Gaze among the nations, and see. Admire, and be astounded. For a work has been done in your days, which no one will believe when it is told.
6. For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift people, marching across the width of the earth, to possess tabernacles not their own.
7. It is dreadful and terrible. From themselves, judgment and their burden will issue.
8. Their horses are more nimble than leopards and swifter than wolves in the evening; their horsemen will spread out. And then their horsemen will approach from far away; they will fly like the eagle, hurrying to devour.
9. They will all approach towards the prey; their face is like a burning wind. And they will gather captives together like sand.
10. And concerning kings, he will triumph, and sovereign rulers will be his laughingstock, and he will laugh over every fortress, and he will transport a rampart and seize it.