God’s Word Translation
Habakkuk 2:12
12“ ‘How horrible it will be for the one who builds a city by slaughter and founds a town by crime.’
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
10You have planned disgrace for your household by cutting off many people and forfeiting your own life. 11A stone in the wall will cry out. A beam in the roof will answer it. “ ‘How horrible it will be for the one who builds a city by slaughter and founds a town by crime.’ 13Isn’t it from the Lord of Armies that people grow tired only to feed the flames and nations exhaust themselves for nothing? 14But the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory like the water covers 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 4:11So now you are cursed from the ground, which has received the blood of your brother whom you killed.
- Joshua 6:26At that time Joshua pronounced this curse: “The Lord will curse whoever comes to rebuild the city of Jericho. It will cost him his firstborn son to lay the foundation. It will cost him his youngest son to set up the city doors.”
- 1 Kings 16:34In Ahab’s time Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho. Laying the foundation cost him his firstborn son, Abiram. Setting up the city doors cost him his youngest son, Segub. The Lord had spoken this through Joshua, son of Nun.
- Jeremiah 22:13“How horrible it will be for the person who builds his house dishonestly and his upper rooms through injustice. He makes his neighbors work for nothing and doesn’t pay them for their work.
- Ezekiel 24:9“ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: How horrible it will be for that city of murderers. I, too, will pile the wood high.
- Daniel 4:27“That is why, Your Majesty, my best advice is that you stop sinning, and do what is right. Stop committing the same errors, and have pity on the poor. Maybe you can prolong your prosperity.”
- Micah 3:10You build Zion on bloodshed and Jerusalem on wickedness.
- Nahum 3:1How horrible it will be for that city of bloody violence! It is completely full of lies and stolen goods—never without victims.
- John 11:47So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council. They asked, “What are we doing? This man is performing a lot of miracles.
- Revelation 17:6I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people and of those who testify about Jesus. I was very surprised when I saw her.
- Habakkuk 2:8You have looted many nations. All the rest of the people will loot you because of the slaughter and violence done to lands, cities, and all their inhabitants.
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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