HABAKKUK.

About 600 B. C. E.

I.

The power and tyranny of the Chaldæans.

1.

Shall the wicked prevail?

THE prophecy which was revealed to the prophet Habakkuk.

2. How long, O LORD, do I cry, and thou dost not hear!

How long do I complain to thee of violence, and thou dost not save!

3. Why dost thou suffer me to see iniquity,

And why dost thou look upon wickedness?
For spoiling and violence are before me;
There is contention, and strife exalteth itself.

4. Therefore the law faileth,

And judgment is not pronounced according to truth;
For the wicked encompasseth the righteous,
Therefore wrong judgment is pronounced.

5. Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We shall not die!

Thou, O LORD, hast appointed them for judgment;
Thou, O Rock, hast ordained them for chastisement.

6. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil,

And canst not look on wickedness;

Why then dost thou look on transgressors,

And art silent, when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he?

7. And why makest thou men as the fishes of the sea As the reptiles that have no ruler?

8. They take up all of them with the hook,

They catch them in their net,

And gather them in their drag;
Therefore they rejoice and exult.

9. Therefore they sacrifice to their net,
And burn incense to their drag;
Because by them their portion is fat,
And their food plenteous.

10. Shall they therefore empty the net,

And slay the nations continually without mercy?

(Chap. I; 1-4, 12-17)

II.

The answer of God. The punishment of the wicked is appointed. The faith of the just. Woes uttered against oppression, extor

1.

tion, double-dealing and the folly of idolatry.

I WILL stand on my watch-tower,

And set myself on the bulwark,

And watch to see what he will say to me,
And what I shall answer to my expostulation.
2. And the LORD answered me, and said,

Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets,
That he may run that readeth it.

3. For the vision is yet for an appointed time,

But it hasteneth to the end; it shall not deceive;
If it tarry, wait for it;

For it shall surely come; it shall not long delay.

4. Behold, the soul of him that is puffed up shall not be at ease; But the just shall live by his faithfulness.

5. Behold, the man of wine is outrageous;
The proud man remaineth not at rest;
He enlargeth his desire as the grave;
He is as death, and cannot be satisfied;
He gathereth to himself all the nations,
And collecteth to himself all the kingdoms.

6. Shall not all of them utter a song against him,

Yea, songs of reproach and derision concerning him?

And say, Woe to him that heapeth up that which belongeth not

to him!

For how long a time?

That ladeth himself with goods taken in pledge!

7. Shall not they suddenly rise up that will oppress thee, And awake, that will harrass thee?

Yea, thou shalt be their booty.

8. Because thou hast plundered many kingdoms,

All the residue of the nations shall plunder thee:

For the blood of men, and for violence against the land,
Against the city and all its inhabitants.

9. Woe to him that procureth unjust gain for his house,
That he may set his nest on high,

That he may be delivered from the evil hand!

10. Thou hast devised shame for thine house;

By destroying many nations, thou hast brought ruin upon thyself.

11. For the stone from the wall crieth out,
And the beam from the timber answereth it.
Woe to him that buildeth a town by blood,
And establisheth a city by iniquity!

12.

13. Behold, it is determined by the LORD of hosts, That nations shall labor for the fire,

And kingdoms weary themselves for naught.

14. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

15.

Woe to him who giveth his neighbor drink,

Who poureth out the strong wine, and maketh him drunken,
That he may look upon his disgrace!

16. Thou shalt be filled with shame instead of glory;

To thee shall come the cup in the right hand of the LORD,
And foul shame shall be upon thy glory.

17. For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee,

18.

And the destruction of the beasts which made them afraid,
On account of the blood of men, and violence against the land,
Against the city and all its inhabitants.

What profiteth the graven image,

When the maker hath graven it?

Or the molten image, and the teacher of lies,
That the artificer trusteth in his work,

When he maketh dumb idols?

19. Woe to him who saith to the wood, Awake!
To the dumb stone, Arise! Will it teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
And there is no breath within it.

20. But the LORD is in his holy temple;
Be silent before him, all the earth!

(Chap. II.)

JEREMIAH,

About 625-585, B. C. E.

The call of Jeremiah to his office.

1

I.

Expostulation with Israel on account

of their ingratitude and disobedience.

THE words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests, who dwelt in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin; to 2. whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his 3. reign; to whom it also came in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem into captivity in the fifth month 4. The word of the LORD came to me, saying: Before I formed thee, I knew thee; and before thou camest into the world, I chose thee; I appointed thee to be a prophet to the nations. 5. Then said I, Alas, O Lord Eternal! Behold, I am not able to speak; for I am a child.

6.

go to

But the LORD said to me, Say not, I am a child; but whomever I send thee, and speak whatever I command thee! 7. Be not afraid of them! For I am with thee to help thee, saith the LORD

8. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. 9. The LORD also said to me, Behold, I have put my words in thy 10. mouth. Behold, I have set thee this day over nations and over kingdoms, to root, out and to pull down, and to destroy, and to overthrow; and to build, and to plant. (Chap. I; 1-10-) 11. Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob,

And all the families of the house of Israel !

Thus saith the LORD:

What fault did your fathers find in me,
That they went far from me,

And walked after vanity, and practised folly?

12. They said not, Where is the LORD,

Who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and pits,

Through a land of drought and deathlike gloom,
Through a land which no man passed through,
And where no man dwelt?

13. I brought you to a land of fruitful fields,
To eat the fruit thereof, and the good thereof;
But when had come in, ye
ye
defiled
my land,
And made my inhertitance an abomination.
14. The priests said not, Where is the LORD?
And the teachers of the law knew me not;
The rulers also rebelled against me;

The prophets prophesied in the name of Baal,
And walked after things that could not profit.

15. Thy wickedness shall chasten thee,

And thy transgressions reprove thee,

And thou shalt know and see that it is an evil and bitter thing
That thou hast forsaken the LORD,

And that the fear of me was not with thee,

Saith God, the LORD of hosts.

(Chap. II; 4-8, 19.)

1.

II.

Reformation enjoined. Disobedience of the people denounced
and punishment threatened.

RETURN, O rebellious Israel, saith the LORD!

I will not turn a frowning face upon you;

For I am merciful, saith the LORD, I retain not anger forever.

2. Only acknowledge thine iniquity,

That thou hast rebelled against the LORD thy God,

And hast roved about to strangers under every green tree,

And hast not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. (Chap. III: 12-13.) 3. If thou wilt return to me, O Israel, saith the LORD,

Thou shalt return [to thy land];

If thou wilt put away thy abominations from my sight,
Thou shalt no more be a wanderer [in a foreign land].

4. If thou wilt swear, as the LORD liveth!

In truth, in justice, and in righteousness,

Then shall the nations bless themselves by thee,
And in thee shall they glory.

5. Thy way and thy doings have brought this upon thee;
This is the fruit of thy wickedness;

6.

It is bitter; it reacheth to thy heart.

(Chap. IV; 1-2, 18.).

Run ye through the streets of Jerusalem, [saith the LORD,] And see now, and know, and seek in her broad places,