Habakkuk 2:8-11

2:8 Because you robbed many countries, ¹ 

all who are left among the nations ²  will rob you.

You have shed human blood

and committed violent acts against lands, cities, ³  and those who live in them.

2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. ⁴ 

He does this so he can build his nest way up high

and escape the clutches of disaster. ⁵ 

2:10 Your schemes will bring shame to your house.

Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct. ⁶ 

2:11 For the stones in the walls will cry out,

and the wooden rafters will answer back. ⁷ 

Zephaniah 1:9

1:9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, ⁸ 

who fill the house of their master ⁹  with wealth taken by violence and deceit. ¹⁰ 

Zechariah 5:3-4

5:3 The speaker went on to say, “This is a curse ¹¹  traveling across the whole earth. For example, according to the curse whoever steals ¹²  will be removed from the community; or on the other hand (according to the curse) whoever swears falsely will suffer the same fate.” 5:4 “I will send it out,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and it will enter the house of the thief and of the person who swears falsely in my name. It will land in the middle of his house and destroy both timber and stones.”

James 5:3-4

5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! ¹³  5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

¹ tn Or “nations.”

² tn Or “peoples.”

³ tn Heb “because of the shed blood of humankind and violence against land, city.” The singular forms אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) and קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) are collective, referring to all the lands and cities terrorized by the Babylonians.

⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

⁵ tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”

⁶ tn Heb “you planned shame for your house, cutting off many nations, and sinning [against] your life.”

⁷ sn The house mentioned in vv. 9-10 represents the Babylonian empire, which became great through imperialism. Here the materials of this “house” (the stones in the walls, the wooden rafters) are personified as witnesses who testify that the occupants have built the house through wealth stolen from others.

⁸ sn The point of the statement all who hop over the threshold is unclear. A ritual or superstition associated with the Philistine god Dagon may be in view (see 1 Sam 5:5).

⁹ tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.

¹⁰ tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.

¹¹ tn The Hebrew word translated “curse” (אָלָה, ’alah) alludes to the covenant sanctions that attend the violation of God’s covenant with Israel (cf. Deut 29:12, 14, 20-21).

¹² sn Stealing and swearing falsely (mentioned later in this verse) are sins against mankind and God respectively and are thus violations of the two major parts of the Ten Commandments. These two stipulations (commandments 8 and 3) represent the whole law.

¹³ tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”