EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Habakkuk 2:12
12It will be very bad for anyone who kills people so that he can build a city for himself. It will be bad for anyone who does wicked things to make his town great.
Habakkuk 2:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
- New International Version (NIV)“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by injustice!
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who establishes a city by iniquity!
Context of Habakkuk 2:12
10But the cruel things that you have done will bring shame to your family. You decided to destroy people from many countries. Because of that, you will pay with your own life. 11The stones in the walls of your houses will cry out against you. The beams in your roof will also shout aloud. It will be very bad for anyone who kills people so that he can build a city for himself. It will be bad for anyone who does wicked things to make his town great. 13Listen! The Lord Almighty has commanded this: All the work that people do to get things for themselves is useless. The things that the nations work so hard to get will become smoke! 14But people everywhere will one day recognize the Lord's great glory. Those people will fill the whole earth, as the waters fill the sea.
Read all of Habakkuk 2Habakkuk 2:12 word by word
ה֛וֹי בֹּנֶ֥ה עִ֖יר בְּדָמִ֑ים וְכוֹנֵ֥ן קִרְיָ֖ה בְּעַוְלָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Habakkuk 2:12
- Genesis 4:11The ground received your brother's blood when you killed him. As a result, the ground no longer accepts you. It has brought a curse on you.
- Joshua 6:26At that time, Joshua made a strong promise. He said, ‘If anyone tries to build Jericho city again, the Lord will punish him as a guilty man. When he starts to build, his oldest son will die. When he puts up the city's gates, his youngest son will die.’
- 1 Kings 16:34While Ahab ruled as king, Hiel built Jericho city again. Hiel came from Bethel. Abiram, his firstborn son, died when Hiel built the city's foundation. Segub, his youngest son, died when he built the gates in the city's wall. The Lord had told Nun's son Joshua that this would happen.
- Jeremiah 22:13The Lord says, ‘Terrible trouble will happen to this man! He cheats people so that he can build a beautiful palace for himself. He does not do what is right and fair. He does not pay the people who work for him. His own men have to work for nothing.
- Ezekiel 24:9So this is what the Almighty Lord says: Terrible trouble will come to the city that is full of murderers! I will put more wood on the fire to destroy it.
- Daniel 4:27So King Nebuchadnezzar, please do as I suggest. Stop doing bad things. Start to do things that are right. Turn away from your sins. Instead, be kind to poor people. Then, perhaps, you will continue to be comfortable and happy.’
- Micah 3:10You rule Zion city, which is Jerusalem. But you are cruel, and you kill honest people.
- Nahum 3:1Terrible things will happen to you, Nineveh. Your people are murderers and they love to tell lies. The city is full of valuable things that they have taken from other people.
- John 11:47Then the Pharisees and the leaders of the priests had a meeting with the group of Jewish leaders. They asked each other, ‘What will we do? This man is doing so many miracles.
- Revelation 17:6I saw that the woman was like a drunk. She was like someone who had drunk the blood of God's people. She had killed them because they had told other people about Jesus. When I saw her, I was very surprised.
- Habakkuk 2:8You have robbed many nations. You have murdered people in many lands. You have destroyed towns and the people who live in them. Now the people who remain will come to rob you.
Commentaries on Habakkuk 2:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Wo to him that buildeth a town with blood - At the expense of much slaughter. This is the answer of the beam to the stone. And these things will refer to the vast fortunes gained, and the buildings erected, by means of the slave-trade; where, to a considerate and humane mind, the walls appear as if composed of the bones of negroes, and cemented by their blood! But the towns or houses established by this iniquity soon come to ruin; and the fortunes made…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity! - Nebuchadnezzar “encircled the inner city with three walls and the outer city also with three, all of burnt brick. And having fortified the city with wondrous works, and adorned the gates like temples, he built another palace near the palace of his fathers, surpassing it in height and its great magnificence.” He seemed to strengthen the city, and to establish it by outward…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-14Verses 5-14 The prophet reads the doom of all proud and oppressive powers that bear hard upon God's people. The lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, are the entangling snares of men; and we find him that led Israel captive, himself led captive by each of these. No more of what we have is to be reckoned ours, than what we come honestly by. Riches are but clay, thick clay; what are gold and silver but white and yellow earth? Those…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-14In the third taunt song, the Babylonians face condemnation for their murder and corruption, which they used to gain wealth and build their cities. God will turn their apparent gain into a total loss. Earth will be filled: Unlike violence and stolen wealth, the awareness of the Lord's glory will spread as widely as water in the ocean (Isaiah 11:9).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. buildeth a town with blood--namely, Babylon rebuilt and enlarged by blood-bought spoils (compare Da 4:30).Read the comment
Topics related to Habakkuk 2:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Habakkuk 2
- 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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