1. The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2. O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out to thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
3. Why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for devastation and violence are before me: and there are that raise strife and contention.
4. Therefore the law is slackened, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth encompass the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
5. Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.
6. For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs.
7. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed from themselves.