Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
Parallel translations
- WEB Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.
- BSB Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
- NKJV Why do You show me iniquity, And cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and contention arises.
- NASB Why do You make me see disaster, And make me look at destitution? Yes, devastation and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises.
- NLT Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Habakkuk asks why God makes him witness so much iniquity, destruction, and strife. The verse expresses the believer's distress at being surrounded by pervasive sin.
Overview
The prophet describes Judah's society as saturated with wrongdoing, contention, and oppression. His question is not merely intellectual but pastoral and personal, the burden of a righteous man forced to behold evil daily. Scripture takes such grief seriously, and the longing for an end to perversity finds its answer in the gospel, where God deals decisively with sin at the cross and promises a renewed creation free of all evil.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 55:9–11Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
- Jer 20:8For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
- Mic 7:1–4Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
- Eccl 5:8If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.
- Jer 9:2–6Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
- Matt 10:16Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
- Ps 12:1–2Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
- Ps 120:5–6Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
- Ps 73:3–9For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Eccl 4:1So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
- 2 Pet 2:8(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
- Ezek 2:6And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
'The righteous shall live by his faith' (2:4) becomes a cornerstone of the gospel in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews — the faith that lays hold of Christ.
How Habakkuk 1:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.