Habakkuk 1:2

How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

▾

KJV

O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

ASV

O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save.

YLT

Till when, O Jehovah, have I cried, And Thou dost not hear? I cry unto Thee--`Violence,' and Thou dost not save.

DBT

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

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Commentary voices

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Voices5

On this verse

It is not as though bringing a censure against God that the prophet says this. Rather, he speaks this way as it is the custom with people who are in some sort of trouble or who are righteously indignant with those responsible to present the …

Theodore of Mopsuestia· COMMENTARY ON HABAKKUK 1:2, 428patristic

Related commentary

(Chapter 1, Verses 1, 2.) How long, O Lord, will I cry out and you will not hear? I will shout to you with violence, but you will not save. Why have you shown me iniquity and pain, to see plunder and injustice against me? According to the Septuagint: How long, O Lord, will I cry out and you will not hear? I will shout to you with violence, but you will not save. Why have you shown me hardships and sorrows, to see misery and impiety?

Jerome· Commentary on Habakkuk, 420patristic

O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!....

John Gill· Exposition of the Entire Bible, 1771reformed

O Lord, how long shall I cry - The prophet feels himself strongly excited against the vices which he beheld; and which, it appears from this verse, he had often declaimed against, but in vain; the people continued in their vices, and God in his longsuffering. Habakkuk begins his prophecy under a similar feeling, and nearly in similar words, as Juvenal did his Satires: - Semper ego auditor tantum? Nunquamne reponam? Vexatus toties rauci Theseide Codri? Sat. 1:1. Shall I always be a hearer only? Shall I never reply?

Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical

Note, Doing wrong to harmless people, as it is an iniquity in itself, so it is a great grievance to all that are concerned for God's Jerusalem, who sigh and cry for abominations of this kind.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

Voices on this verse

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Cross-references

14 linked verses

The verses this one reaches12

Psalms 22:1–2
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
Psalms 13:1–2
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
Lamentations 3:8
Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer.
Psalms 140:1
Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men. Protect me from men of violence,
Jeremiah 14:9
Why are You like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? Yet You are among us, O LORD, and we are called by Your name. Do not forsake us!
Psalms 94:3
How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
Revelation 6:10
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
Job 19:7
Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
Psalms 74:9–10
There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
Genesis 6:11
Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence.
Ecclesiastes 5:8
If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.
Isaiah 59:6
Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their deeds are sinful deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.

2 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Around this verse

Where this verse connects

Addressed By
topics/doubt
O LORD, how long shall I cry — Habakkuk
MannaFest topical index (legacy import; verified against ASV text 2026-07-21; founder-approved batch)

Featured studies

Featured studyHabakkuk — the Study GuideThis study walks through this verse.

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

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About this book

Habakkuk — A prophet in dialogue with God — two complaints, two answers, a psalm. ‘The just shall live by his faith’ — cited three times in the NT.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: Habakkuk the prophet (1:1)
Date: Late 7th c. BC, shortly before the Babylonian rise to dominance

More cross-references2 further linked verses, grouped by book▾ open

Every other verse the study tradition links to this one, in the Bible’s own order. The first links in each book carry a line of their text; every reference opens its full verse page.

Isaiah1

Isaiah 14:4you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the…

Acts1

Acts 21:35When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because…

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge; OpenBible.info (CC-BY).

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Two steps out along the cross-reference floor, votes-ranked — destinations reached by more than one path rise (the text's own hubs). Every stop is a page, and every stop travels with its words.

Through
Psalms 94:3
How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
leads to
- Revelation 6:10
  And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Job 20:5
  the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
- Jeremiah 12:1–2
  Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live…
- Psalms 43:2
  For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?
Through
Lamentations 3:8
Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer.
leads to
- Job 30:20
  I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.
- Psalms 22:2
  I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.
Through
Jeremiah 14:9
Why are You like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? Yet You are among us, O LORD, and we are called by Your name. Do not forsake us!
leads to
- Isaiah 63:19
  We have become like those You never ruled, like those not called by Your name.
- Isaiah 59:1
  Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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