1The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw. 2O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! [even] cry out to thee [of] violence, and thou wilt not save! 3Why doest thou shewe mee iniquitie, and cause me to beholde sorowe? for spoyling, and violence are before me: and there are that rayse vp strife and contention. 4Therefore the law is feeble, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth surround the righteous; therefore judgment goeth forth perverted 5Behold ye among the nations, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] ye will not believe, though it be told [you]. 6For lo, I raise vp the Caldeans, that bitter & furious nation, which shall goe vpon the breadth of the lande to possesse the dwelling places, that are not theirs. 7They [are] terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed from themselves. 8Their horses also are swifter then the leopards, and are more fierce then the wolues in the euening: and their horsemen are many: & their horsemen shall come from farre: they shall flie as the eagle hasting to meate. 9They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up [as] the east wind, and they shall gather the captives as the sand. 10And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn to them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it. 11Then shall [his] mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, [imputing] this his power to his god. 12[Art] thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. 13Thou art of pure eyes, and canst not see euill: thou canst not behold wickednesse: wherefore doest thou looke vpon the transgressors, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked deuoureth the man, that is more righteous then he? 14And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping animals, [that have] no ruler over them? 15They take vp all with the angle: they catch it in their net, and gather it in their yarne, whereof they reioyce and are glad. 16Therefore they sacrifice to their net, and burn incense to their drag; because by them their portion [is] fat, and their food plenteous. 17Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?