American Standard Version
Habakkuk 1:4
4Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted.
Habakkuk 1:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
- New International Version (NIV)Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
- English Standard Version (ESV)So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore the law is powerless, And justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
Context of Habakkuk 1:4
2O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. 3Why dost thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up. Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted. 5Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you. 6For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.
Read all of Habakkuk 1Habakkuk 1:4 word by word
עַל־כֵּן֙ תָּפ֣וּג תּוֹרָ֔ה וְלֹֽא־יֵצֵ֥א לָנֶ֖צַח מִשְׁפָּ֑ט כִּ֤י רָשָׁע֙ מַכְתִּ֣יר אֶת־הַצַּדִּ֔יק עַל־כֵּ֛ן יֵצֵ֥א מִשְׁפָּ֖ט מְעֻקָּֽל׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Habakkuk 1:4
- Psalms 11:3If the foundations be destroyed, What can the righteous do?
- Psalms 119:126It is time for Jehovah to work; Forthey have made void thy law.
- Mark 7:9And he said unto them, Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition.
- Romans 3:31Do we then make the law of none effect through faith? God forbid: nay, we establish the law.
- 1 Kings 21:13And the two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him: and the base fellows bare witness against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did curse God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him to death with stones.
- Job 21:7Wherefore do the wicked live, Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
- Psalms 22:16For dogs have compassed me: A company of evil-doers have inclosed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.
- Psalms 58:1Do ye indeed in silence speak righteousness? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
- Psalms 59:2Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, And save me from the bloodthirsty men.
- Psalms 82:1God standeth in the congregation of God; He judgeth among the gods.
- Psalms 94:3Jehovah, how long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph?
- Isaiah 1:21How is the faithful city become a harlot! she that was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
- Isaiah 59:2but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear.
- Jeremiah 5:27As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxed rich.
- Jeremiah 12:1Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee; yet would I reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?
- Jeremiah 26:8And it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that Jehovah had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
Commentaries on Habakkuk 1:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The law is slacked - They pay no attention to it; it has lost all its vigor, its restraining and correcting power, it is not executed; right judgment is never pronounced; and the poor righteous man complains in vain that he is grievously oppressed by the wicked, and by those in power and authority. That the utmost depravity prevailed in the land of Judah is evident from these verses; and can we wonder, then, that God poured out such signal judgments upon…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Therefore - i. e., Because God seemed not to awake to avenge His own cause, people promised themselves that they might sin on with impunity. Sin produces sin, and wrong produces wrong; it spreads like an infectious disease, propagating itself, and each, to whom it reaches, adds to its poison. At last, it reached those also, who should be in God‘s stead to restrain it. The divine law itself is silenced, by the power of the wicked, by the sin of the judge…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Habakkuk shares his worry about the injustice and wrongdoing he observed everywhere (see Habakkuk 1:12–13; 2:4, 9), even in the courts, where the law failed to uphold justice.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Therefore--because Thou dost suffer such crimes to go unpunished. law is slacked--is chilled. It has no authority and secures no respect. judgment--justice. wrong judgment proceedeth--Decisions are given contrary to right.Read the comment
Topics related to Habakkuk 1:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Habakkuk 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries