1 THE BURDEN or oracle (the thing to be lifted up) which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and You will not hear? Or cry out to You of violence and You will not save? 3 Why do You show me iniquity and wrong, and Yourself look upon or cause me to see perverseness and trouble? For destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention arises. 4 Therefore the law is slackened and justice and a righteous sentence never go forth, for the [hostility of the] wicked surrounds the [uncompromisingly] righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.