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Habakkuk 2

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1 ἐπὶ τῆς φυλακῆς μου στήσομαι καὶ ἐπιβήσομαι ἐπὶ πέτραν καὶ ἀποσκοπεύσω τοῦ ἰδεῖν τί λαλήσει ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ τί ἀποκριθῶ ἐπὶ τὸν ἔλεγχόν μου

1 What message, then, is entrusted to me? What answer shall I make when I am called to account? Here on the watch-tower my post shall be; stand I on the battlements, and await his signal.

1

Super custodiam meam stabo,
et figam gradum super munitionem:
et contemplabor ut videam quid dicatur mihi,
et quid respondeam ad arguentem me.

2 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη πρός με κύριος καὶ εἶπεν γράψον ὅρασιν καὶ σαφῶς ἐπὶ πυξίον ὅπως διώκῃ ὁ ἀναγινώσκων αὐτά 3 διότι ἔτι ὅρασις εἰς καιρὸν καὶ ἀνατελεῖ εἰς πέρας καὶ οὐκ εἰς κενόν ἐὰν ὑστερήσῃ ὑπόμεινον αὐτόν ὅτι ἐρχόμενος ἥξει καὶ οὐ μὴ χρονίσῃ 4 ἐὰν ὑποστείληται οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεώς μου ζήσεται

2 Write down thy vision, the Lord said, on a tablet, so plain that it may be read with a glance; 3 a vision of things far distant, yet one day befall they must, no room for doubting it. Wait thou long, yet wait patiently; what must be must, and at the time appointed for it. 4 Foul air the doubter breathes; by his faith he lives, who lives right.

2 Et respondit mihi Dominus, et dixit:

Scribe visum, et explana eum super tabulas,
ut percurrat qui legerit eum. 3
Quia adhuc visus procul;
et apparebit in finem, et non mentietur:
si moram fecerit, exspecta illum,
quia veniens veniet, et non tardabit. 4
Ecce qui incredulus est, non erit recta anima ejus in semetipso;
justus autem in fide sua vivet.

5 ὁ δὲ κατοινωμένος καὶ καταφρονητὴς ἀνὴρ ἀλαζών οὐδὲν μὴ περάνῃ ὃς ἐπλάτυνεν καθὼς ὁ ᾅδης τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ οὗτος ὡς θάνατος οὐκ ἐμπιπλάμενος καὶ ἐπισυνάξει ἐ{P'} αὐτὸν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ εἰσδέξεται πρὸς αὐτὸν πάντας τοὺς λαούς 6 οὐχὶ ταῦτα πάντα παραβολὴν κα{T'} αὐτοῦ λήμψονται καὶ πρόβλημα εἰς διήγησιν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐροῦσιν οὐαὶ ὁ πληθύνων ἑαυτῷ τὰ οὐκ ὄντα αὐτοῦ ἕως τίνος καὶ βαρύνων τὸν κλοιὸν αὐτοῦ στιβαρῶς 7 ὅτι ἐξαίφνης ἀναστήσονται δάκνοντες αὐτόν καὶ ἐκνήψουσιν οἱ ἐπίβουλοί σου καὶ ἔσῃ εἰς διαρπαγὴν αὐτοῖς 8 διότι σὺ ἐσκύλευσας ἔθνη πολλά σκυλεύσουσίν σε πάντες οἱ ὑπολελειμμένοι λαοὶ δ{I'} αἵματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀσεβείας γῆς καὶ πόλεως καὶ πάντων τῶν κατοικούντων αὐτήν

5 Tyrant, like drunkard, is mocked by false dreams of glory.[1] See him whet his appetite, not death itself nor the grave more insatiable; gather up a tribe here, a nation there, heap his plate with them! 6 One day, what a by-word they will make of him! What riddling taunts shall be hurled at him! As here follows:

So thou wouldst hoard up the possessions that are none of thine, load thyself with base dross,[2] and it should go on for ever? 7 All unawares the foe shall spring, worry thee, harry thee, make a helpless prey of thee. 8 So many lands thou hast plundered, plundered thyself shalt be; enough nations are left for that; for men’s blood shed, and for fields ravaged, plundered the city shall be, and all that dwell there.[3]

5
Et quomodo vinum potantem decipit,
sic erit vir superbus, et non decorabitur:
qui dilatavit quasi infernus animam suam,
et ipse quasi mors, et non adimpletur:
et congregabit ad se omnes gentes,
et coacervabit ad se omnes populos. 6
Numquid non omnes isti super eum parabolam sument,
et loquelam ænigmatum ejus, et dicetur:
Væ ei qui multiplicat non sua?
usquequo et aggravat contra se densum lutum? 7
Numquid non repente consurgent qui mordeant te,
et suscitabuntur lacerantes te,
et eris in rapinam eis? 8
Quia tu spoliasti gentes multas,
spoliabunt te omnes qui reliqui fuerint de populis,
propter sanguinem hominis,
et iniquitatem terræ, civitatis, et omnium habitantium in ea.

9 ὦ ὁ πλεονεκτῶν πλεονεξίαν κακὴν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τάξαι εἰς ὕψος νοσσιὰν αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐκσπασθῆναι ἐκ χειρὸς κακῶν 10 ἐβουλεύσω αἰσχύνην τῷ οἴκῳ σου συνεπέρανας λαοὺς πολλούς καὶ ἐξήμαρτεν ἡ ψυχή σου 11 διότι λίθος ἐκ τοίχου βοήσεται καὶ κάνθαρος ἐκ ξύλου φθέγξεται αὐτά

9 Ill-gotten gains thou wouldst amass to deck that house of thine; make it an eyrie, too high for envious hands to reach? 10 Nay, with this undoing of many peoples thou hast done thy own house despite, thy own life is forfeit; 11 stone from ruined wall cries out against thee, and beam from gaping roof echoes the cry.

9
Væ qui congregat avaritiam malam domui suæ,
ut sit in excelso nidus ejus,
et liberari se putat de manu mali! 10
Cogitasti confusionem domui tuæ;
concidisti populos multos,
et peccavit anima tua. 11
Quia lapis de pariete clamabit,
et lignum, quod inter juncturas ædificiorum est, respondebit.

12 οὐαὶ ὁ οἰκοδομῶν πόλιν ἐν αἵμασιν καὶ ἑτοιμάζων πόλιν ἐν ἀδικίαις 13 οὐ ταῦτά ἐστιν παρὰ κυρίου παντοκράτορος καὶ ἐξέλιπον λαοὶ ἱκανοὶ ἐν πυρί καὶ ἔθνη πολλὰ ὠλιγοψύχησαν 14 ὅτι πλησθήσεται ἡ γῆ τοῦ γνῶναι τὴν δόξαν κυρίου ὡς ὕδωρ κατακαλύψει αὐτούς

12 City thou wouldst found, city’s walls build up, with deeds of bloodshed and of wrong? 13 What, has not the Lord of hosts uttered his doom, toil of nations shall feed the fire, and all their labour be spent for nothing? 14 It is the Lord’s glory men must learn to know, that shall cover the earth, flooding over it like the waters of the sea.[4]

12
Væ qui ædificat civitatem in sanguinibus,
et præparat urbem in iniquitate! 13
Numquid non hæc sunt a Domino exercituum?
laborabunt enim populi in multo igne,
et gentes in vacuum, et deficient. 14
Quia replebitur terra, ut cognoscant gloriam Domini,
quasi aquæ operientes mare.

15 ὦ ὁ ποτίζων τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἀνατροπῇ θολερᾷ καὶ μεθύσκων ὅπως ἐπιβλέπῃ ἐπὶ τὰ σπήλαια αὐτῶν 16 πλησμονὴν ἀτιμίας ἐκ δόξης πίε καὶ σὺ καὶ διασαλεύθητι καὶ σείσθητι ἐκύκλωσεν ἐπὶ σὲ ποτήριον δεξιᾶς κυρίου καὶ συνήχθη ἀτιμία ἐπὶ τὴν δόξαν σου 17 διότι ἀσέβεια τοῦ Λιβάνου καλύψει σε καὶ ταλαιπωρία θηρίων πτοήσει σε διὰ αἵματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀσεβείας γῆς καὶ πόλεως καὶ πάντων τῶν κατοικούντων αὐτήν

15 Thou wouldst pour out a draught for thy neighbour, a draught thy own hand has poisoned; bemuse him as with wine, to leave him stripped and bare? 16 This was to cover thyself with shame, not with glory; drink thou in thy turn, and grow dizzy! A round for thee, now, from yonder cup the Lord holds in his hand; how shamefully is that glory of thine bespewed! 17 Wrong done to Lebanon, scathe of the roaming beasts, shall recoil on thee; fear shall overtake them,[5] city of thine and all that dwell there, for men’s blood shed, and for fields ravaged.

15
Væ qui potum dat amico suo mittens fel suum,
et inebrians ut aspiciat nuditatem ejus! 16
Repletus es ignominia pro gloria;
bibe tu quoque, et consopire.
Circumdabit te calix dexteræ Domini,
et vomitus ignominiæ super gloriam tuam. 17
Quia iniquitas Libani operiet te,
et vastitas animalium deterrebit eos
de sanguinibus hominum,
et iniquitate terræ, et civitatis, et omnium habitantium in ea.

18 τί ὠφελεῖ γλυπτόν ὅτι ἔγλυψαν αὐτό ἔπλασαν αὐτὸ χώνευμα φαντασίαν ψευδῆ ὅτι πέποιθεν ὁ πλάσας ἐπὶ τὸ πλάσμα αὐτοῦ τοῦ ποιῆσαι εἴδωλα κωφά 19 οὐαὶ ὁ λέγων τῷ ξύλῳ ἔκνηψον ἐξεγέρθητι καὶ τῷ λίθῳ ὑψώθητι καὶ αὐτό ἐστιν φαντασία τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν ἔλασμα χρυσίου καὶ ἀργυρίου καὶ πᾶν πνεῦμα οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ

18 What avails image, that carver should be at pains to carve it? In metal his own hands have melted shall a man put his trust? Cheating likenesses, dumb idols all! 19 And thy prayer was, stock and stone should wake up and come to thy aid, senseless things that cannot signify their will;[6] nay, breath in their bodies have none, for all they are tricked out with gold and silver!

18
Quid prodest sculptile, quia sculpsit illud fictor suus,
conflatile, et imaginem falsam?
quia speravit in figmento fictor ejus, ut faceret simulacra muta. 19
Væ qui dicit ligno: Expergiscere;
Surge, lapidi tacenti!
Numquid ipse docere poterit?
ecce iste coopertus est auro et argento,
et omnis spiritus non est in visceribus ejus.

20 ὁ δὲ κύριος ἐν ναῷ ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ εὐλαβείσθω ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ

20 And all the while, the Lord is in his holy temple. Keep silence, earth, before him.

20
Dominus autem in templo sancto suo:
sileat a facie ejus omnis terra!

[1] Literally, ‘Behold, the breath (or life) of him who is incredulous will not be straight within him, but the just man will have life in his faith. And as wine deceives the drinker, so shall a proud man be, and he will not be adorned’. The Latin here is evidently trying to restore sense to a passage unintelligible in the Hebrew text. The word ‘faith’ in the Old Testament usually means faithfulness (to one’s word); here the context suggests that it means confidence.

[2] ‘Base dross’; literally, ‘thick mud’, a mistaken attempt to identify a Hebrew word which means ‘borrowers’ pledges’. In the next verse, the verb ‘worry’ or ‘bite’ is, in Hebrew, closely allied to a word meaning ‘usury’.

[3] Here and in verse 17 below the Latin version has probably misunderstood the Hebrew construction, referring ‘the city and all that dwell there’ not to Babylon but to her victims.

[4] Verses 12-14 seem to be a cento of quotations; cf. Mic. 3.10, Jer. 51.58, Is. 11.9.

[5] Literally, ‘it shall frighten them’; the last word is masculine in the Latin, feminine in the Hebrew. The Hebrew text of this verse is very obscure, and may well be corrupt.

[6] ‘Signify their will’; literally, ‘teach’. If the text is sound, the contrast must be with the true God as Lawgiver.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd