Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Yahweh tells Habakkuk that the righteous will be rewarded and that the wicked will be punished.
II. Photo
Yahweh ridicules idol making: “What has the carved image availed, that he who fashioned it has carved it for an image and a false oracle — that he who fashioned his product has trusted in it, making dumb idols?” (v. 18)
III. Selected Verses
1: I will stand on my watch, Take up my station at the post, And wait to see what He will say to me, What He will reply to my complaint.
2: The LORD answered me and said: Write the prophecy down, Inscribe it clearly on tablets, So that it can be read easily.
8: Because you plundered many nations, All surviving peoples shall plunder you — For crimes against men and wrongs against lands, Against cities and all their inhabitants.
18-20: What has the carved image availed, That he who fashioned it has carved it For an image and a false oracle — That he who fashioned his product has trusted in it, Making dumb idols? Ah, you who say, “Wake up” to wood, “Awaken,” to inert stone! Can that give an oracle? Why, it is encased in gold and silver, But there is no breath inside it. But the LORD in His holy Abode — Be silent before Him all the earth!
IV. Outline
1-2a. Introduction: Habakkuk awaits a response
2b. God tells Habakkuk to write the message down
3. A prophecy will be fulfilled
4-6a. Justice for the righteous and wicked
6b-8. Woe #1: the plunderer will be plundered
9-11. Woe #2: the wicked abode will fall
12-14. Woe #3: the towns will be filled with awe
15-17. Woe #4: the wicked will succumb to lawlessness and attack
18-20. Woe #5: discrediting idolatry
V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.
VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Photo taken from http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3183/2852918206_edd58a862a_b.jpg
