God’s Word Translation
Habakkuk 1:4
4That is why your teaching is numbed, and justice is never carried out. Wicked people surround righteous people so that when justice is carried out, it’s 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, am I to cry for help, but you will not listen? I cry out to you, “There’s violence!” yet you will not come to the rescue. 3Why do you make me see wrongdoing? And why do you watch wickedness? Destruction and violence are in front of me. Quarrels and disputes arise. That is why your teaching is numbed, and justice is never carried out. Wicked people surround righteous people so that when justice is carried out, it’s perverted. 5Look among the nations and watch. Be amazed and astonished. I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if it were reported to you. 6I am going to send the Babylonians, that fierce and reckless nation. They will march throughout the earth to take possession of lands that don’t belong to them.
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
Words taken from the KJV.
- Therefore the lawתּוֹרָהtôrâh tôrâh · instructionH8451
- is slackedפּוּגpûg · be numbH6313
- and judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justiceH4941
- doth neverנֵ֫צַחnetsach nêtsach · perpetuityH5331
- go forthיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
- for the wickedרָשָׁעrâshâ‛ · wickedH7563
- doth compassכָּתַרkâthar · to surroundH3803
- about the righteousצַדִּיקtsaddîyq · righteousH6662
- therefore wrongעָקַל‛âqal · to twistH6127
Cross-references for Habakkuk 1:4
- Psalms 11:3When the foundations ⌞of life⌟ are undermined, what can a righteous person do?”
- Psalms 119:126It is time for you to act, O Lord. Even though people have abolished your teachings,
- Mark 7:9He added, “You have no trouble rejecting the commandments of God in order to keep your own traditions!
- Romans 3:31Are we abolishing the laws in the Scriptures by this faith? That’s unthinkable! Rather, we are supporting these laws.
- 1 Kings 21:13The two good-for-nothing men came in and sat opposite him. In front of the people, these men accused Naboth of cursing God and the king. So the people stoned him to death outside the city.
- Job 21:7“Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, and even become more powerful?
- Psalms 22:16Dogs have surrounded me. A mob has encircled me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
- Psalms 58:1Do you rulers really give fair verdicts? Do you judge Adam’s descendants fairly?
- Psalms 59:2Rescue me from troublemakers. Save me from bloodthirsty people.
- Psalms 82:1God takes his place in his own assembly. He pronounces judgment among the gods:
- Psalms 94:3How long, O Lord, will wicked people triumph? How long?
- Isaiah 1:21How the faithful town has become a prostitute! She was full of justice, and righteousness lived in her. But now murderers live there!
- Isaiah 59:2But your wrongs have separated you from your God, and your sins have made him hide his face so that he doesn’t hear you.
- Jeremiah 5:27Like cages filled with birds, their houses are filled with deceit. That is why they become powerful and rich.
- Jeremiah 12:1O Lord, even if I would argue my case with you, you would always be right. Yet, I want to talk to you about your justice. Why do wicked people succeed? Why do treacherous people have peace and quiet?
- Jeremiah 26:8But as soon as Jeremiah finished saying everything that the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets, and all the people grabbed him and said, “You must 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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