¹Shoko raMwari rakaonekwa nomuporofita Habhakuki.

¹The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

²Aiwa, Jehovha, ndichadana kusvikira riniko, imwi musinganzwi? Ndinodana kwamuri pamusoro pokuitirwa simba, asi hamundiponesi.

²Jehovah, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee, Violence! and thou dost not save.

³Munondiratidzireiko zvakaipa, munotarireiko zvisakarurama? nekuti kuparadza nokuitira vamwe simba zviri pamberi pangu; rukave ruripo, uye kukakavara kunomuka.

³Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest thou upon grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.

⁴Saka murayiro haune simba, uye kururamisira vamwe hakuchaonekwi; nekuti vakashata vanokomba vakarurama; saka kururamisira vamwe kunongoonekwa kwakaminama.

⁴Therefore the law is powerless, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked encompasseth the righteous; therefore judgment goeth forth perverted.

⁵Tarirai pakati pamarudzi, muone, mushamiswe kwazvo-kwazvo; nekuti ndinobata basa pamazuva enyu, ramucharamba kutenda kunyange muchizviudzwa.

⁵See ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for [I] work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be declared [to you].

⁶nekuti tarirai, ndinomutsa vaKaradhea, rudzi rune hasha runopenga, vanofamba panyika pose, kuti vazvitorere ugaro husati huri hwavo.

⁶For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, which marcheth through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.

⁷Vanotyisa nokukarudza; kutonga kwavo nokukudzwa kwavo kunobva kwavari vamene.

⁷They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

⁸Mabhiza avowo anomhanya achipfuura ingwe, ane hasha kupfuura mapere amadekwana; vatasvi vavo vamabhiza vanomhanya vachiuruka, zvirokwazvo vatasvi vavo vamabiza vanouya vachibva kure, vanobhururuka segondo rinokurumidzira kudya.

⁸And their horses are swifter than the leopards, and are more agile than the evening wolves; and their horsemen prance proudly, and their horsemen come from afar: they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.

⁹Vanouya vose kuzoita simba; zviso zvavo zvakatarira mberi; vanounganidza vatapwa sejecha.

⁹They come all of them for violence: the crowd of their faces is forwards, and they gather captives as the sand.

¹⁰Zvirokwazvo vanodadira madzimambo, machinda anosekwa navo; vanoseka nhare dzose, nekuti vanodzitutira guruva ndokudzikunda.

¹⁰Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a scorn unto him; he derideth every stronghold: for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.

¹¹Ipapo vanopfuura semhepo, ndokuenda, asi vane mhosva, ivo vanoita simba ravo mwari wavo.

¹¹Then will his mind change, and he will pass on, and become guilty: this his power is become his +god.

¹²Imi Jehovha, Mwari wangu, Mutsvene wangu, hamuzakavapo kubva pakutanga-tanga here? Isu hatingafi. Jehovha, imwi makavatemera kuti vatonge, nemwi dombo makavaisapo kuti varange,

¹²-- Art thou not from everlasting, Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast appointed him for correction.

¹³Imi, muna meso akaisvonaka, asingadi kutarira zvakaipa, musingadi kuona zvisakarurama, munotaririreiko vanonyengera, muchinyarara kana akashata achimedza akamupfuura nokururama;

¹³[Thou art] of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on mischief: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, [and] keepest silence when the wicked swalloweth up a [man] more righteous than he?

¹⁴muchiita vanhu sehove dzegungwa, sezvinokambaira, zvisina mubati?

¹⁴And thou makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them.

¹⁵Vanovabudisa vose nehaka yavo, vanovabata mumumbure wavo, vachivaunganidzira murutava rwavo; naizvozvo vanofara kwazvo vanomufaro.

¹⁵He taketh up all of them with the hook, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them into his drag; therefore he rejoiceth and is glad:

¹⁶Naizvozvo vanobayira mumbure wavo, nokupisira rutava rwavo zvinonhuhwira, nekuti mugove wavo wakakora nazvo, zvokudya zvavo zvawanda.

¹⁶therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; for by them his portion is become fat, and his meat dainty.

¹⁷Zvino vangadurura zviri mumumbure wavo, vakaramba vachiuraya marudzi avanhu here?

¹⁷Shall he therefore empty his net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?