Habukkuk 2
v.1
I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
v.3
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.
There is an “appointed time” for the “revelation’s” fulfillment, determined by the Lord; and it will not “prove false” or disappoint but “will certainly come.” Thus the reader may run with confidence and perseverance the race marked out for him (cf. 1Co 15:58). The logical outcome of this “revelation” is that one should “wait”.
v.4
“See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright - but the righteous will live by his faith -
v.12
“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime!
The third “woe” reiterates the indictment of ruthless self-aggrandizement achieved by “bloodshed,” applying it to the construction of the Babylonian capital.
v.13
Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nation’s exhaust themselves for nothing?
v.14
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
v.20
But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”