Guide
What Is the Book of Habakkuk?
ca. 7th–6th Century BCE
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Habakkuk was written some time after the rise of Babylonian power in 612 BCE. The first two chapters contain a dialogue between the prophet and God. The prophet complains that God allows evildoers to harm the righteous, and God responds by announcing that he will bring the Chaldeans (the Babylonians) to ravage the earth but will then destroy them. The third chapter of Habakkuk is a prayer about God’s power in delivering his people from the oppressor. It is found in Habakkuk’s Prayer for God to Manifest His Power.
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
A Complaint to God and Babylon
Habakkuk 1
The pronouncement made by the prophet Habakkuk.
How long, O Lord, shall I cry out
And You not listen,
Shall I shout to You, “Violence!”
And You not save?
Why do You make me see iniquity
[Why] do…
Primary Source
Habakkuk’s Prayer for God to Manifest His Power
Habakkuk 3
Habakkuk appeals for divine intervention in a prayer that evokes Canaanite mythological themes.