Habakkuk Chapter 2 in Simple English

Read Habakkuk Chapter 2

1I will stand at my watch. I will take my place on the tower. I will watch to see what he will say to me, and what I shall answer when I am corrected.

2And the LORD answered me and said, "Write the vision down. Write it plainly on tablets, so that the one who reads it may run."

3For the vision is for an appointed time still to come. At the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it is slow in coming, wait for it. It will surely come; it will not be late.

4"Look, the soul that is lifted up is not upright in him. But the just shall live by his faith."

5Also, because he does wrong through wine, he is a proud man. He does not stay at home. He opens his desire wide as hell, and is like death, and cannot be satisfied. He gathers all nations to himself, and heaps up all peoples for himself.

6Will not all these take up a saying against him, a mocking proverb against him? They will say, "Woe to him who piles up what is not his. How long will it last? Woe to him who loads himself with thick clay."

7Will not those who bite you rise up suddenly? Will not those who trouble you wake up? And you shall be their plunder.

8Because you have robbed many nations, all the rest of the peoples shall rob you. This is because of the blood of men, and the violence done to the land, to the city, and to all who live in it.

9Woe to him who greedily gains evil riches for his house, so that he may set his nest up high and be kept safe from the power of evil.

10You have planned shame for your own house by cutting off many peoples, and you have sinned against your own soul.

11For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork shall answer it.

12Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and sets up a city by wrongdoing.

13Look, is it not from the LORD of hosts that the peoples labour only for fire, and the peoples wear themselves out for nothing?

14For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

15Woe to him who gives his neighbour drink, who holds out your bottle to him and makes him drunk as well, so that you may look on their nakedness.

16You are filled with shame instead of glory. Drink yourself, and let your foreskin be uncovered. The cup of the LORD's right hand shall be turned to you, and shameful vomit shall be on your glory.

17For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover you, and the destruction of the beasts, which made them afraid. This is because of the blood of men, and the violence done to the land, to the city, and to all who live in it.

18What good is the carved image, that its maker carved it? What good is the cast image, a teacher of lies, that the one who made the work trusts in it, and makes idols that cannot speak?

19Woe to him who says to the wood, "Wake up," and to the silent stone, "Get up, it will teach." Look, it is covered over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all inside it.

20But the LORD is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him.

Explanation

Habakkuk 2

In short

Habakkuk receives God's answer to his complaint: write down what God will show him, because it will certainly happen at the right time. God then contrasts those who trust him with the arrogant and greedy, and pronounces five curses against the plundering nation that oppresses God's people, ending with the promise that God's glory will fill the earth.

Context

Habakkuk has just asked God why he allows injustice and violence to go unpunished. Now God responds. Habakkuk positions himself on a watchtower, waiting to hear what God will say and what answer he should give when corrected. The text that follows is God's answer to the prophet's questions about suffering and justice.

What the text says

God tells Habakkuk to write the vision plainly on tablets so that someone reading it can understand it quickly, even while running (verse 2). Though the vision's fulfillment waits for "an appointed time," it will certainly come and will not lie (verse 3). Verse 4 sets up a contrast: whoever lifts himself up and is not upright will fall, but "the just shall live by his faith."

Verses 5 through 19 contain five separate "woe" judgments. The first (verses 5-8) condemns someone who gathers nations through greed and will be plundered in return. The second (verses 9-11) targets those building wealth through violence and injustice, whose houses will cry out against them. The third (verses 12-13) denounces building cities through bloodshed, for all that labor will come to nothing. The fourth (verses 15-17) curses one who shames others through drink and will himself receive shame. The fifth (verses 18-19) mocks idols and those who trust them, since they have no breath or power.

Verse 14 stands as the passage's conclusion: "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." Verse 20 closes with God sitting in his holy temple while all the earth keeps silence before him.

Takeaways

God promises his judgment will come at the appointed time, and those who trust him while waiting will be vindicated.
Arrogance, greed, violence, and idolatry will be judged; God's glory, not human power or false gods, will ultimately fill the earth.
The righteous live by faith in God's promises, not by what they can grab or control in the present.

Habakkuk 2 - Simple English