\q2 and you destroyed their land and their cities.
\q1 So those who are still alive will steal valuable things from you.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 Terrible things will happen to you people of Babylonia who build big houses
\q2 with money that you got by forcing others to give it to you.
\q1 You are proud, and you think that your houses will be safe
\q2 because you have built them in places where you can easily defend them.
\q1
\v 10 But because you have destroyed others,
\q2 you have caused your family
\q2 and yourselves shame!
\q1
\v 11 The stones in the walls of your houses cry out to accuse you,
\q2 and the beams in your ceilings also say the same things!
\s5
\q1
\v 12 Terrible things will happen to you people of Babylonia who kill people in order to build cities,
\q2 cities that you build by using money that you have gotten by committing crimes.
\q1
\v 13 But Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, has declared that everything that is built by people who do things like that will be destroyed by fire;
\q2 they will have worked hard uselessly.
\q1
\v 14 But in contrast, like the oceans are filled with water,
\q2 the earth will be filled with people who know that Yahweh is very great!
\s5
\q1
\v 15 Terrible things will happen to you people of Babylonia,
\q2 who cause people who live in nearby countries to become drunk.
\q1 You force them to drink a lot of drugged wine
\q2 until they are drunk and then they walk around naked
\q2 because you are happy when you see that.
\q1
\v 16 But you are the ones who soon will be disgraced instead of being honored.
\q2 It will be as though you are forced to drink a lot of wine until you will also stagger around, drunk.
\q1 You will drink the wine that symbolizes that Yahweh will punish you,
\q2 and he will cause others to dishonor you instead of honoring you.
\s5
\q1
\v 17 You did violent things to the people in Lebanon,
\q2 and you killed the wild animals there,
\q1 but you will be punished severely for doing that.
\q1 You have killed many people
\q2 and you have destroyed their lands and their cities.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 You people of Babylonia need to know that your idols are completely useless,
\q2 because it is people who made them.
\q1 Statues that have been carved or made in a mold deceive you.
\q2 Those who trust in idols
\q2 are trusting in things that they themselves created,
\q1 things that cannot speak!
\q1
\v 19 Terrible things will happen to you who say to lifeless idols that are made of wood,
\q2 'Wake up!'
\q1 Stone idols certainly cannot tell you what you should do;
\q2 they look nice because they are covered with silver and gold,
\q2 but they are not alive.
\q1
\v 20 But Yahweh is in his holy temple;
\q2 everyone on the earth should be silent in his presence!"
\s5
\c 3
\m
\v 1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet.
\v 2 Yahweh, I have heard about you;
\q1 and I revere you because of all the amazing things that you have done.
\q2 In our time, do again some of those things that you did long ago!
\q1 Even when you are angry with us,
\q2 act mercifully toward us!
\s5
\q1
\v 3 In a vision, I saw God, the Holy One, coming from the region of Teman in Edom;
\q2 I also saw him coming from the Paran hills in the region of Sinai.
\q1 His glory filled the sky,
\q2 and the earth was full of people who were praising him.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 His glory was like the sunrise;
\q2 rays flashed from his hands
\q2 where he keeps his power.
\q1
\v 5 He sent plagues in front of him,
\q2 and other plagues came behind him.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 When he stopped, the earth shook.
\q2 When he looked at the nations,
\q1 all the people trembled.
\q2 The hills and mountains that have existed since the beginning of time collapsed and crumbled.
\q2 He is the only one who exists eternally!
\s5
\q1
\v 7 In the vision I saw the people who live in tents in the region of Cushan were very afraid,
\q2 and the people in the region of Midian were trembling.
\q1
\v 8 Yahweh, was it because you were angry with the rivers and streams that you struck them?
\q2 Did the seas cause you to be furious,
\q1 with the result that you rode through them with horses that were pulling chariots
\q2 that you used to bring victory to your cause?
\s5
\q1
\v 9 It was as though you uncovered your bow and prepared to shoot it,
\q2 and had grasped arrows to put to your bow.
\q1 Then you split open the earth,
\q2 and streams burst out.
\q1
\v 10 It is as though the mountains saw you doing that,
\q2 and they trembled in pain.
\q1 The water rushed by in floods;
\q2 it was as though the deep ocean roared and caused its waves to rise up high.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 The sun and moon stopped moving in the sky,
\q2 while your lightning flashed past like a swift arrow,
\q2 and your glittering spear flashed.
\q1
\v 12 Being very angry, you walked across the earth
\q2 and trampled the armies of many nations!
\s5
\q1
\v 13 But you also went to rescue your people,
\q2 and to save the one whom you have chosen.
\q1 You struck down the leader of those wicked people
\q2 and took away all his power completely.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 With his own spear you destroyed the leader of those soldiers who rushed like a whirlwind to attack and scatter us,
\q2 thinking that they could conquer us as easily as they defeat the weak people who hide from them.
\q1
\v 15 You walked through the sea with your horses to destroy our enemies,
\q2 and caused the waves to surge.
\s5
\q1
\v 16 When I saw that vision,
\q2 my heart pounded
\q1 and my lips quivered
\q2 because I became afraid.
\q1 My legs became weak
\q2 and I shook, because I was terrified.
\q1 But I will wait quietly for the people of Babylonia, those who invaded our country, to experience disasters!
\s5
\q1
\v 17 Therefore,
\q1 even if there are no blossoms on the fig trees,
\q2 and there are no grapes on the grapevines,
\q1 and even if there are no olives growing on the olive trees,
\q2 and there are no crops in the fields,
\q1 and even if the flocks of sheep and goats die in the fields,
\q2 and there are no cattle in the stalls, this is what I will do.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 I will rejoice because of Yahweh!
\q2 I will be joyful because my God is the one who saves me!
\q1
\v 19 Yahweh the Lord is the one who gives me strength,
\q2 and he enables me to climb safely like a deer does,
\q2 he makes me walk on my high hills.
\q (This message is for the choir director:
\q2 When this prayer is sung, it is to be accompanied by people playing stringed instruments.)