take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store, 'the 1glory of 10 all pleasant furniture. She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and languish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale'. (11 °Where is the 'den' of the lions, and

the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness! walked, the lion's whelp, and none 12 made them afraid? The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens 13 with ravin. Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard. 31 Woe to the bloody city! it is all

full of lies and rapine'; the prey *(2 departeth not. The noise of the

whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels; and pransing horses, and (3 jumping chariots; the horseman

mounting, and the 'flashing sword, and the glittering spear; and a multitude of slain, and a great 'heap' of carcases and there is none end of the corpses; they stumble upon 4 their corpses: because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through 5 her witchcrafts. Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face; and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. 6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set 7 thee as a gazingstock. And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek 8 comforters for thee? Art thou bet

1 Or, Iwealth

2 Or, even the old lion

$ Or, Icharging\

4 Or, before

VERSION OF 1611.

both ..

was she carried away, she went into captivity her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great 11 men were bound in chains. Thou also shalt be drunken, thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek la strong (12 hold because of the enemy.

"All

thy 'fortresses shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs : if they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the 13 eater. Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire hath de14 voured thy bars. Draw thee water! for the siege, strengthen thy Ifortresses: go into the clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brick15 kiln. "There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall devour thee like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as 16 the locust. Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm 10spoileth, and flieth 17 away. Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy. marshals as the Iswarms of grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where 18 they are. Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy worthies are

at rest!: thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is *(19 none to gather' them. There is no

lassuaging of thy 'hurt; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee clap the hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

Or, a defence against Or, lay hold of \ the \brickmouldľ 10 Or, spreadeth himself 11 Or, Iscribes 15 Or, Iwalls!

11 THE 'burden which Habakkuk the

prophet did see.

2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not 3) save. "Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and look upon perverseness1? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there is' strife, and conten4 tion 'riseth up. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgement doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore judge(5 ment goeth forth perverted'. Behold ye among the nations', and regard, and wonder marvellously: for "I work a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told (6 you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation; which march through the breadth of the earth', to possess dwelling places (7 that are not theirs. 05They are terrible and dreadful: their judgement and their dignity proceed from them(8 selves. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen spread themselves: 'yeal, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to Ide(9 vour. They come all of them for violence; their faces are set eagerly! as the east wind; and they gather (10 captives as the sand. 091 Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision' unto him': The derideth' every strong hold; for 'he heapeth up! 11) dust, and taketh' it. 10 Then shall he sweep by as a wind', and shall 11pass over, and be guilty: even he whose 12) might is his god. Art not thou from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine

1 Or, loraclel 2 Or, cause me to look 3 Or, goeth not forth unto victory 4 Or, lone worketh

Heb. He, and so in vv. 8, 9. • Or, bear themselves proudly Heb. the eagerness (or assembling) of their faces is &c.

Or, Itowards the east Or, forwards!

Holy One? 12we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained him for judgement; and thou, O 18 Rock', hast es13 tablished him for correction. "Thou 'that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that' canst not look on 'perverseness', wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that 14 is more righteous than he; and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler 15 over them? He taketh' up all of them with the angle, he catcheth' them in 'his' net, and 'gathereth' them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth 16 and is glad. Therefore he sacrificeth unto 'his' net, and 'burneth' incense unto his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and 'his' 17) meat 14plenteous. Shall he there

fore empty 'his' net, and not spare to slay the nations continually? 21 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the 15tower, and will look forth to see what he will 'speak 16with! me, and what I shall answer 'concern2 ing my complaint'. And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, 3) that he may run that readeth it. °For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it 17hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely 4 come, it will not 'delay'. Behold, his soul is 'puffed up, it is not 18upright in him but the just shall live 19by his (5 faith. 020 Yea, moreover, wine is a Itreacherous dealer, a haughty! man, and that keepeth 'not at home; who enlargeth his desire as 22hell, and

pro

'he' is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all 'peoples'. (6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting 1proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his ! how long? and that ladeth himself with 7 pledges! Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou 8 shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the peoples' shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence 'done to the land, Ito the city and to all that dwell therein.

9

Woe to him that 'getteth' an evil Igain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil ! 10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples', and hast sinned against thy soul. 11 °For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by (13 iniquity! Behold, is it not of the

LORD of hosts that the peoples' labour for the fire, and the nations 14 weary themselves for vanity? °For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

15

Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that laddest thy 51venom thereto, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their naked16 ness! °Thou art filled with shame for glory drink thou also, and "be las one uncircumcised: the cup of the LORD's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and foul shamel 17 shall be upon thy glory. For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of 'the' beasts, which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein.

that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and 'the' teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? 19 °Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall this teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the 20 midst of it. But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

He stood, and 16measured the earth; He beheld, and drove asunder the nations:

And the eternal' mountains were scattered,

The everlasting' hills did bow; 17His goings were as of oldi.

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction :

The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

Was the LORD displeased against the rivers?

Was thine anger against the rivers,
Or thy wrath against the sea,
That thou didst ride upon thine
horses,

8 Or, litsh

10 Or, thy fame 11 Or, was

12 Or, Icometh (and similarly to the end of ver. 15)

13 Heb. horns.

14 Or, lat his side

15 Or, burning coals

16 Or, Ishook

17 Or, His ways are everlasting

The 10heap of 'mighty' waters.

I heard, 'and' my belly trembled, My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entered into my bones,

and I trembled in 'my place! :

That I should' rest in the day of trouble,

12When it cometh up against the people 18 which invadeth him in troops.

For though the fig tree shall not blossom,

Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flock shall be cut off from the fold,

And there shall be no herd in the stalls :

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Jehovah', the Lord, is my strength,
And he 'maketh' my feet like hinds'
feet,

And will make me to walk upon mine high places.

For the Chief Musician, on my stringed instruments.

overflow

7

are turned back from 'following' the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired 'after' him.

Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath sancti8 fied his guests. And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S Sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's 'sons', and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel. 9) And' in 'that day I will punish all

those that leap over the threshold, which fill their 'master's house with (10 violence and deceit. And in that day,

saith the LORD, there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and Jan howling from the second 'quarter, and a great crashing from the 11 hills. Howl, ye inhabitants of *Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan1 are undone all they that were 12 laden with silver are cut off. And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles; and I will punish the men that are 7settled on their lees, that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, 13 neither will he do evil. And their Iwealth shall become a spoil', and their houses a desolation: yea', they shall build houses, but 'shall not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink the 14 wine thereof. The great day of the LORD is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD; the mighty man 'crieth' 15 there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a 16 day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fenced cities, and against the high (17 81battlements". And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and 18 their flesh as dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy:

1 See 1 Sam. xvi. 5.

2 Heb. visit upon.

3 Heb. Mishneh.

4 Or, The mortar

Or, the merchant people

o Heb. lamps.

7 Or, thickened

21

for he shall make an end, yea'. a "terrible end', of all them that dwell in the land.

Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath 2 no 10shame'; before the decree bring forth, "before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the 3 LORD'S anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgement; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day 4 of the LORD's anger. °For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noonday, and Ekron shall be (5 rooted up. Woe unto the inhabitants of 12the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. 6 °And the sea coast shall be 'pastures, with 18cottages for shepherds and folds 7 for flocks. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed 'their flocks' thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening; for the LORD their God shall visit them, and 'bring 8 again their captivity. I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, 'wherewith they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against 9 their border. "Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, la possession' of 1anettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my 10 nation shall inherit them. "This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people 11 of the LORD of hosts. The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of 12 the nations'. "Ye Ethiopians also, 13 ye shall be slain by my sword. And he will stretch out his hand against

"Or, speedy

10 Or, longing

=