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habakkuk 2:5-19

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Habakkuk 2:5-19

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”

— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

5. Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, [he is] a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: 6. Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth [that which is] not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! 7. Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? 8. Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and [for] the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. 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 evil! 10. Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, 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 iniquity! 13. Behold, [is it] not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? 14. 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 puttest thy bottle to [him], and makest [him] drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! 16. Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’S right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing [shall be] on thy glory. 17. For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, [which] made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. 18. What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a 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, it shall teach! Behold, it [is] laid over with gold and silver, and [there is] no breath at all in the midst of it.

Habakkuk 2:5-19 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Habakkuk 2:5

Theological / Devotional

Yea also. Again the contrast is emphasized between the character of the wicked, as delineated in the first part of v. 4, and the character of the righteous, as mentioned in the concluding part of the same verse. In ch. 2:5-19 God enumerates the sins of Babylon. He knows that the Babylonians are treacherous and wicked, as Habakkuk charges (ch. 1:13). Nevertheless, God is still in charge of the affairs of earth, and all men — including Habakkuk — do well to “keep silence before him” (ch. 2:20). Wine. The Hebrew text quoted in the Habakkuk Commentary of the Dead Sea scrolls (see p. 1047) has hon, “power,” or “wealth,” in place of “wine.” Proud. Or, “haughty.” Desire. Heb. nephesh (see on 1 Kings 17:21; Ps. 16:10). Hell. Heb. she’ol (see on Prov. 15:11). As death and she’ol are represented figuratively as being insatiable (Prov. 27:20; Isa. 5:14), so the Babylonians gathered and heaped unto themselves “all nations” and “all people.”

By SdaBc

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