Habakkuk 2:1-6

2:1 I will stand at my watch post;

I will remain stationed on the city wall.

I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me

and can know how I should answer

when he counters my argument.

The Lord Assures Habakkuk

2:2 The Lord responded:

“Write down this message! Record it legibly on tablets,

so the one who announces it may read it easily.

2:3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed;

it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out.

Even if the message is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently;

for it will certainly come to pass – it will not arrive late.

2:4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion,

but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness.

2:5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man!

His appetite is as big as Sheol’s;

like death, he is never satisfied.

He gathers all the nations;

he seizes all peoples.

The Proud Babylonians are as Good as Dead

2:6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him

and ridicule him with proverbial sayings:

‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead

(How long will this go on?) –

he who gets rich by extortion!’