NINEVEH’S DOWNFALL

3 Woe to the city of blood,v

totally deceitful,

full of plunder,

never without prey.w

2 The crack of the whip

and rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse

and jolting chariot!x

3 Charging horseman,

flashing sword,

shining spear;

heaps of slain,

mounds of corpses,y

dead bodies without endz—

they stumble over their dead.

4 Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,

the attractive mistress of sorcery,

who treats nations and clans like merchandise

by her prostitution and sorcery,aa

5 I am against you.ab

This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.

I will lift your skirts over your face

and display your nakedness to nations,

your shame to kingdoms.ac

6 I will throw filth on you

and treat you with contempt;ad

I will make a spectacle of you.

7 Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying,ae

“Nineveh is devastated;

who will show sympathy to her?”

Where can I find anyone to comfort you?

8 Are you better than ThebesB,a

that sat along the Nile

with water surrounding her,

whose rampart was the sea,

the riverC,D her wall?

9 Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;

Put and Libya were among herA allies.

10 Yet she became an exile;

she went into captivity.

Her children were also dashed to piecesb

at the head of every street.

They cast lots for her dignitaries,c

and all her nobles were bound in chains.

11 YouB also will become drunk;

you will hide.C

You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

12 All your fortresses are fig trees

with figs that ripened first;

when shaken, they fall—

right into the mouth of the eater!

13 Look, your troops are like women among you;

your land’s city gates

are wide open to your enemies.

Fire will devour the bars of your gates.

14 Draw water for the siege;

strengthen your fortresses.

Step into the clay and tread the mortar;

take hold of the brick-mold!

15 The fire will devour you there;

the sword will cut you down.

It will devour you like the young locust.d

Multiply yourselves like the young locust;

multiply like the swarming locust!

16 You have made your merchantse

more numerous than the stars of the sky.

The young locust stripsD the land

and flies away.

17 Your court officials are like the swarming locust,

and your scribes like clouds of locusts,

which settle on the walls on a cold day;

when the sun rises, they take off,

and no one knows where they are.

18 King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;f

your officers sleep.

Your people are scattered across the mountainsg

with no one to gather them together.h

19 There is no remedy for your injury;

your wound is severe.i

All who hear the news about you

will clap their hands because of you,j

for who has not experienced

your constant cruelty?

HABAKKUK

1 The pronouncementa that the prophet Habakkuk saw.b

HABAKKUK’S FIRST PRAYER

2 How long,c Lord, must I call for helpd

and you do not listen

or cry out to you about violencee

and you do not save?

3 Why do you force me to look at injustice?f

Why do you tolerate* wrongdoing?

Oppression and violence are right in front of me.

Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

4 This is why the law is ineffective

and justice never emerges.

For the wicked restrictg the righteous;

therefore, justiceh comes out perverted.

GOD’S FIRST ANSWER

5 Look at the nationsB,i and observej—

be utterly astounded!k

For I am doing something in your days

that you will not believel

when you hear about it.m

6 Look! I am raising upn the Chaldeans,C

that bitter,o impetuous nation

that marches across the earth’s open spaces

to seize territories not its own.

7 They are fiercep and terrifying;

their views of justice and sovereignty

stem from themselves.

8 Their horses are swifterq than leopardsr

and more fierceD than wolves of the night.

Their horsemen charge ahead;

their horsemen come from distant lands.

They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.s

9 All of them come to do violence;

their facest are set in determination.E

They gatheru prisoners like sand.v

10 They mockw kings,

and rulers are a joke to them.

They laughx at every fortress

and build siege ramps to capturey it.

11 Then they sweepz by like the wind

and pass through.

They are guilty;F their strength is their god.

HABAKKUK’S SECOND PRAYER

12 Are you not from eternity, Lord my God?aa

My Holy One,ab youG will not die.

Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment;

my Rock,ac you destined them to punish us.

13 Your eyesad are too pureae to look on evil,

and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous?af

Why are you silent

while oneA who is wicked swallows up

oneB who is more righteous than himself?

14 You have made mankind

like the fish of the sea,ag

like marine creatures that have no ruler.

15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,

catch them in their dragnet,ah

and gather them in their fishing net;

that is why they are glad and rejoice.

16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet

and burn incense to their fishing net,

for by these things their portion is rich

and their food plentiful.ai

17 Will they therefore empty their net and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

HABAKKUK WAITS FOR GOD’S RESPONSE

2 I will stand at my guard post

and station myself on the lookout tower.a

I will watch to see what he will say to meb

and what I shouldC reply about my complaint.

GOD’S SECOND ANSWER

2 The Lord answered me:

Write down this vision;c

clearly inscribe it on tablets

so one may easily read it.D

3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time;d

it testifies about the end and will not lie.

Though it delays, wait for it,

since it will certainly come and not be late.e

4 Look, his ego is inflated;E

he is without integrity.

But the righteous one will live by his faith.F,f

5 Moreover, wineG betrays;

an arrogant man is never at rest.H

He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,

and like Death he is never satisfied.g

He gathers all the nations to himself;h

he collects all the peoples for himself.

THE FIVE WOE ORACLES

6 Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,i

with mockery and riddles about him?

They will say:

Woe to him who amasses what is not his—

how much longer?—j

and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.”k

7 Won’t your creditors suddenly arise,

and those who disturb you wake up?

Then you will become spoil for them.l

8 Since you have plundered many nations,m

all the peoples who remain will plunder youn—

because of human bloodshed

and violenceo against lands, cities,

and all who live in them.p

9 Woe to him who dishonestly makes

wealth for his houseA,q

to place his nest on high,

to escape the grasp of disaster!r

10 You have planned shame for your house

by wiping out many peoples

and sinning against your own self.

11 For the stones will cry outs from the wall,

and the rafters will answer them

from the woodwork.

12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed

and founds a town with injustice!t

13 Is it not from the Lord of Armies

that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire

and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?u

14 For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,

as the water covers the sea.v

15 Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,

pouring out your wrathB

and even making them drunk,

in order to look at their nakedness!

16 You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.

You also—drink,

and expose your uncircumcision!C

The cup in the Lord’s right hand

will come around to you,

and utter disgrace will cover your glory.w

17 For your violence against Lebanon

will overwhelm you;

the destruction of animals will terrify youD

because of your human bloodshed and violence

against lands, cities, and all who live in them.

18 What use is a carved idol

after its craftsman carves it?

It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.

For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it

and makes worthless idols that cannot speak.

19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!

or to mute stone: Come alive!

Can it teach?

Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,

yet there is no breatha in it at all.

20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;b

let the whole earth

be silent in his presence.c

HABAKKUK’S THIRD PRAYER

3 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. According to Shigionoth.A,d

2 Lord, I have heard the report about you;

Lord, I stand in awe of your deeds.e

Revive your work in these years;

make it known in these years.

In your wrath remember mercy!f

3 God comes from Teman,

the Holy One from Mount Paran.g

Selah

His splendor covers the heavens,

and the earth is full of his praise.h

4 His brilliance is like light;

rays are flashing from his hand.

This is where his power is hidden.

5 Plague goes before him,

and pestilence follows in his steps.

6 He stands and shakesB the earth;i

he looks and startles the nations.

The age-old mountains break apart;

the ancient hills sink down.j

His pathways are ancient.k

7 I see the tents of CushanC in distress;

the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.

8 Are you angry at the rivers, Lord?

Is your wrath against the rivers?

Or is your fury against the sea

when you ride on your horses,

your victorious chariot?l

9 You took the sheath from your bow;

the arrows are readyD to be used with an oath.E,m

Selah

You split the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains see you and shudder;n

a downpour of water sweeps by.

The deep roars with its voiceo

and lifts its wavesF high.

11 Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence,p

at the flash of your flying arrows,

at the brightness of your shining spear.

12 You march across the earth with indignation;

you trample down the nations in wrath.q

13 You come out to save your people,r

to save your anointed.G

You crush the leader of the house of the wicked

and strip him from footH to neck.

Selah

14 You pierce his head

with his own spears;

his warriors storm out to scatter us,

gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.

15 You tread the sea with your horses,

stirring up the vast water.s

HABAKKUK’S CONFIDENCE IN GOD EXPRESSED

16 I heard, and I trembled within;t

my lips quivered at the sound.

Rottenness entered my bones;

I trembled where I stood.

Now I must quietly wait for the day of distressu

to come against the people invading us.

17 Though the fig tree does not bud

and there is no fruit on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though the flocks disappear from the pen

and there are no herds in the stalls,

18 yet I will celebrate in the Lord;

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!v

19 The Lord my Lord is my strength;w

he makes my feet like those of a deerx

and enables me to walk on mountain heights!y

For the choir director: onA stringed instruments.