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.