For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
Parallel translations
- WEB For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
- BSB For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
- NKJV For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
- NASB “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That grim and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth, To take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs.
- NLT I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people. They will march across the world and conquer other lands.
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
God reveals His startling work: He is raising up the fierce, fast-moving Chaldeans (Babylonians) to seize lands not their own. It shows that God sovereignly uses even ruthless nations to accomplish His purposes.
Overview
The Chaldeans were the rising Neo-Babylonian power who would conquer Judah and carry it into exile. God's claim 'I raise up' underscores His absolute sovereignty over history, employing a brutal empire as the rod of His judgment. This answer is more troubling than comforting to Habakkuk, raising the deeper problem of how a holy God can use the wicked to punish the less wicked, a tension the book will resolve through the call to faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 2 Kgs 24:2And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.
- 2 Chr 36:17Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
- Jer 5:15Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
- 2 Chr 36:6Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
- Isa 23:13Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.
- Jer 25:9Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
- Jer 4:6Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
- Deut 28:49–52The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
- Jer 1:15–16For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
- Jer 4:8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
- Jer 6:22–23Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
- Isa 39:6–7Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
- Jer 21:4Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
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