Berean Standard Bible
Habakkuk 1:4
4Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is 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
2How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save? 3Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. 5“Look at the nations and observe— be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you. 6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans— that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
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
- Thereforeעַל‛al · uponH5921
- Thereforeכֵּןkên · soH3651
- the lawתּוֹרָהtôrâh tôrâh · instructionH8451
- is paralyzedפּוּגpûg · be numbH6313
- and justiceמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justiceH4941
- neverלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
- neverנֵ֫צַחnetsach nêtsach · perpetuityH5331
- goes forthיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
- Forכִּיkîy · forH3588
- the wickedרָשָׁעrâshâ‛ · wickedH7563
- hem inכָּתַרkâthar · to surroundH3803
- ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
- the righteousצַדִּיקtsaddîyq · righteousH6662
- pervertedעָקַל‛âqal · to twistH6127
Cross-references for Habakkuk 1:4
- Psalms 11:3If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
- Psalms 119:126It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.
- Mark 7:9He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.
- Romans 3:31Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.
- 1 Kings 21:13And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.
- Job 21:7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
- Psalms 22:16For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
- Psalms 58:1Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
- Psalms 59:2Deliver me from workers of iniquity, and save me from men of bloodshed.
- Psalms 82:1God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:
- Psalms 94:3How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
- Isaiah 1:21See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!
- Isaiah 59:2But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
- Jeremiah 5:27Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
- Jeremiah 12:1Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
- Jeremiah 26:8and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must 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
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