Abbacum 2

¹ I will stand upon my watch, and mount upon the rock, and watch to see what he will say ^[1]by me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

² And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision, and that plainly on a tablet, that he that readeth it may run. ³ ^[2]For the vision is yet for a time, and it shall shoot forth at the end, and not in vain: though he should tarry, wait for him; ^[3]for he will surely come, and will not tarry.

⁴ ^[4]If ^[5]he should draw back, my soul hath no pleasure in him: but the just shall live by ^[6]my faith. ⁵ But the arrogant man and the scorner, the boastful man, shall not finish anything; who hath enlarged his desire as the grave, and like death he is never satisfied, and he will gather to himself all the nations, and will receive to himself all the peoples. ⁶ Shall not all these take up a parable against him? and a proverb to tell against him? and they shall say, Woe to him that multiplieth to himself the possessions which are not his! ^[7]how long? and who heavily loadeth his yoke. ⁷ For suddenly there shall arise up those that bite him, and they that plot against thee shall awake, and thou shalt be a plunder to them. ⁸ Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the nations that are left shall spoil thee, because of the blood of men, and the sins of the land and city, and of all that dwell in it.

⁹ Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evils. ¹⁰ Thou hast devised shame to thy house, thou hast utterly destroyed many nations, and thy soul hath sinned. ¹¹ For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the ^[8]beetle out of the timber shall speak.

¹² Woe to him that buildeth a city with blood, and ^[9]establisheth a city by unrighteousness. ¹³ Are not these things of the Lord Almighty? surely many people have been exhausted in the fire, and many nations have fainted. ¹⁴ For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord; it shall cover them as water.

¹⁵ Woe to him that giveth his neighbour to drink the thick lees of wine, and intoxicateth him, that he may look upon their secret parts. ¹⁶ Drink thou also thy fill of disgrace instead of glory: shake, O heart, and quake, the cup of the right hand of the Lord hath come round upon thee, and dishonour hath gathered upon thy glory. ¹⁷ For the ungodliness of Lebanon shall cover thee, and distress because of wild beasts shall dismay thee, because of the blood of men, and the sins of the land and city, and of all that dwell in it.

¹⁸ What profiteth it the graven image, that they have graven it? one hath made it a molten work, a false image; for the maker hath trusted in his work, to make dumb idols.

¹⁹ Woe to him that saith to the wood, Awake, arise; and to the stone, Be thou exalted! whereas it is an image, and this is a ^[10]casting of gold and silver, and there is no breath in it. ²⁰ But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth fear before him.

Notes

2:1 by: or, in ↩
2:3 Heb. 10:37–38 (LXX ≠ Heb.) ↩
2:3 for he will surely come: see Heb. 10:37–39 ↩
2:4 Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11 ↩
2:4 he should: or, any man ↩
2:4 my faith: or, faith in me ↩
2:6 how long: or, for a long while ↩
2:11 beetle: possibly, knot ↩
2:12 establisheth: Gr. prepareth ↩
2:19 casting: Gr. forging ↩