Habakkuk 1:1-7 (HCSB)
​¹ The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Habakkuk’s First Prayer
² How long, LORD, must I call for help
and You do not listen
or cry out to You about violence
and You do not save?
³ Why do You force me to look at injustice?
Why do You tolerate wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
⁴ This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous;
therefore, justice comes out perverted.
God’s First Answer
⁵ Look at the nations and observe —
be utterly astounded!
For something is taking place in your days
that you will not believe
when you hear about it.
⁶ Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter, impetuous nation
that marches across the earth’s open spaces
to seize territories not its own.
⁷ They are fierce and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.

Habakkuk 2:2-4 (HCSB)
² The LORD answered me:
Write down this vision;
clearly inscribe it on tablets
so one may easily read it.
³ For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.
⁴ Look, his ego is inflated;
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.