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For this reason the law has become powerless.[a]
    Justice is never carried out.
    In fact, the wicked overwhelm the righteous
    so that justice is perverted.

The Lord Answers

Look at the nations and pay attention! Be completely dumbfounded, because I will do something in your lifetime that you will not believe, even though you are warned ahead of time. Watch, I am raising up the Chaldeans,[b] that savage, reckless nation. They will sweep across the whole width of the earth, seizing lands and homes that do not belong to them.

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Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:4 Or paralyzed or ineffective
  2. Habakkuk 1:6 The Chaldeans were the ethnic group ruling Babylon.

Therefore the law(A) is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice(B) is perverted.(C)

The Lord’s Answer

“Look at the nations and watch—
    and be utterly amazed.(D)
For I am going to do something in your days
    that you would not believe,
    even if you were told.(E)
I am raising up the Babylonians,[a](F)
    that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth(G)
    to seize dwellings not their own.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans