1This is the message Habakkuk the prophet received.
2Lord, how long must I ask for help and you ignore me? I cry out to you about violence, but you do not save us!
3Why do you make me see wrong things and make me look at trouble? People are destroying things and hurting others in front of me; they are arguing and fighting.
4So the teachings are weak, and justice never comes. Evil people gain while good people lose; the judges no longer make fair decisions.
5"Look at the nations! Watch them and be amazed and shocked. I will do something in your lifetime that you won't believe even when you are told about it.
6I will use the Babylonians, those cruel and wild people who march across the earth and take lands that don't belong to them.
7They scare and frighten people. They do what they want to do and are good only to themselves.
8Their horses are faster than leopards and quicker than wolves at sunset. Their horse soldiers attack quickly; they come from places far away. They attack quickly, like an eagle swooping down for food.
9They all come to fight. Nothing can stop them. Their prisoners are as many as the grains of sand.
10They laugh at kings and make fun of rulers. They laugh at all the strong, walled cities and build dirt piles to the top of the walls to capture them.
11Then they leave like the wind and move on. They are guilty of worshiping their own strength."
12Lord, you live forever, my God, my holy God. We will not die. Lord, you have chosen the Babylonians to punish people; our Rock, you picked them to punish.
13Your eyes are too good to look at evil; you cannot stand to see those who do wrong. So how can you put up with those evil people? How can you be quiet when the wicked swallow up people who are better than they are?
14You treat people like fish in the sea, like sea animals without a leader.
15The enemy brings them in with hooks. He catches them in his net and drags them in his fishnet. So he rejoices and sings for joy.
16The enemy offers sacrifices to his net and burns incense to worship it, because it lets him live like the rich and enjoy the best food.
17Will he keep on taking riches with his net? Will he go on destroying people without showing mercy?