| |
The Prophecy
of Habacuc 2
I will stand upon my watch, and fix my foot upon the
tower: and I will watch, to see what will be said to
me, and what I may answer to him that reproveth me.
And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision,
and make it plain upon tables: that he that readeth
it may run over it.
For as yet the vision is far off, and it shall appear
at the end, and shall not lie: if it make any delay,
wait for it: for it shall surely come, and it shall
not be slack.
Behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be
right in himself: but the just shall live in his faith.
And as wine deceiveth him that drinketh it: so shall
the proud man be, and he shall not be honoured: who
hath enlarged his desire like hell: and is himself like
death, and he is never satisfied: but will gather together
unto him all nations, and heap together unto him all
people.
Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and
a dark speech concerning him: and it shall be said:
Woe to him that heapeth together that which is not his
own? how long also doth he load himself with thick clay?
Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee:
and they be stirred up that shall tear thee, and thou
shalt be a spoil to them?
Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all that shall
be left of the people shall spoil thee: because of men's
blood, and for the iniquity of the land, of the city,
and of all that dwell therein.
Woe to him that gathereth together an evil covetousness
to his house, that his nest may be on high, and thinketh
he may be delivered out of the hand of evil.
Thou hast devised confusion to thy house, thou hast
cut off many people, and thy soul hath sinned.
For the stone shall cry out of the wall: and the timber
that is between the joints of the building, shall answer.
Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and prepareth
a city by iniquity.
Are not these things from the Lord of hosts? for the
people shall labour in a great fire: and the nations
in vain, and they shall faint.
For the earth shall be filled, that men may know the
glory of the Lord, as waters covering the sea.
Woe to him that giveth drink to his friend, and presenteth
his gall, and maketh him drunk, that he may behold his
nakedness.
Thou art filled with shame instead of glory: drink thou
also, and fall fast asleep: the cup of the right hand
of the Lord shall compass thee, and shameful vomiting
shall be on thy glory.
For the iniquity of Libanus shall cover thee, and the
ravaging of beasts shall terrify them because of the
blood of men, and the iniquity of the land, and of the
city, and of all that dwell therein.
What doth the graven thing avail, because the maker
thereof hath graven it, a molten, and a false image?
because the forger thereof hath trusted in a thing of
his own forging, to make dumb idols.
Woe to him that saith to wood: Awake: to the dumb stone:
Arise: can it teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold,
and silver, and there is no spirit in the bowels thereof.
But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth
keep silence before him. |