New English Translation
Habakkuk 1:5
5“Look at the nations and pay attention! You will be shocked and amazed! For I will do something in your lifetime that you will not believe even though you are forewarned.
Habakkuk 1:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
- New International Version (NIV)“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
Context of Habakkuk 1:5
3Why do you force me to witness injustice? Why do you put up with wrongdoing? Destruction and violence confront me; conflict is present and one must endure strife. 4For this reason the law lacks power, and justice is never carried out. Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent. For this reason justice is perverted. “Look at the nations and pay attention! You will be shocked and amazed! For I will do something in your lifetime that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. 6Look, I am about to empower the Babylonians, that ruthless and greedy nation. They sweep across the surface of the earth, seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them. 7They are frightening and terrifying; they decide for themselves what is right.
Read all of Habakkuk 1Habakkuk 1:5 word by word
רְא֤וּ בַגּוֹיִם֙ וְֽהַבִּ֔יטוּ וְהִֽתַּמְּה֖וּ תְּמָ֑הוּ כִּי־פֹ֙עַל֙ פֹּעֵ֣ל בִּֽימֵיכֶ֔ם לֹ֥א תַאֲמִ֖ינוּ כִּ֥י יְסֻפָּֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Beholdרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- ye among the heathenגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- and regardנָבַטnâbaţ · to lookH5027
- and wonderתָּמַהּtâmahh · to astoundedH8539
- will workפָּעַלpâ‛al · to workH6466
- a workפֹּ֫עַלpô‛al · workH6467
- in your daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- ye will not believeאָמַן'âman · be faithfulH539
- though it be toldסָפַרsâphar · to recountH5608
Cross-references for Habakkuk 1:5
- Deuteronomy 4:27Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you among the nations where the Lord will drive you.
- Jeremiah 9:25The Lord says, “Watch out! The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh.
- Jeremiah 25:14For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation too. I will repay them for all they have done!’”
- Isaiah 29:14Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people – an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations.”
- Lamentations 4:12Neither the kings of the earth nor the people of the lands ever thought that enemy or foe would enter the gates of Jerusalem. מ (Mem)
- Daniel 9:12He has carried out his threats against us and our rulers who were over us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven!
- Acts 13:40Watch out, then, that what is spoken about by the prophets does not happen to you:
- Isaiah 28:21For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon, to accomplish his work, his peculiar work, to perform his task, his strange task.
- Jeremiah 5:12“These people have denied what the Lord says. They have said, ‘That is not so! No harm will come to us. We will not experience war and famine.
- Jeremiah 18:18Then some people said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”
- Ezekiel 12:22“Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel, ‘The days pass slowly, and every vision fails’?
- Zephaniah 1:2“I will destroy everything from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.
- Acts 6:13They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place and the law.
Commentaries on Habakkuk 1:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Behold ye among the heathen - Instead of בגוים baggoyim, among the nations or heathen, some critics think we should read בגדים bogedim, transgressors; and to the same purpose the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic have read; and thus it is quoted by St. Paul Acts 13:41. But neither this, nor any tantamount reading, is found in any of the MSS. yet collated. Newcome translates, "See, ye transgressors, and behold a wonder, and perish." I will work a work in your…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Behold ye among the heathen - The whole tone of the words suddenly changes. The Jews flattered themselves that, being the people of God, He would not fulfill His threats upon them. They had become like the pagan in wickedness; God bids them look out among them for the instrument of His displeasure. It was an aggravation of their punishment, that God, who had once chosen them, would now choose these whom He had not chosen, to chasten them. So Moses had…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Look … observe: Two different Hebrew verbs are also translated as see and tolerate in Habakkuk 1:3. This creates a literary connection between Habakkuk’s questions in Habakkuk 1:3 and God’s reply in 1:5–11.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. Behold ... marvellously ... a work--(Compare Is 29:14). Quoted by Paul (Ac 13:41). among the heathen--In Ac 13:41, "ye despisers," from the Septuagint. So the Syriac and Arabic versions; perhaps from a different Hebrew reading. In the English Version reading of Habakkuk, God, in reply to the prophet's expostulation, addresses the Jews as about to be punished, "Behold ye among the heathen (with whom ye deserve to be classed, and by whom ye shall be…Read the comment
Topics related to Habakkuk 1:5
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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