Habakkuk 1:5 (ASV)

Passage

Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:3 Why dost thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.

Habakkuk 1:4 Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted.

Habakkuk 1:5 Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.

Habakkuk 1:6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.

Habakkuk 1:7 They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "behold", "nations", "look", "wonder", "marvellously", "working", "days", and "believe". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "behold" and "nations", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Therefore the law is slacked and justice..." into verse 6's "For lo I raise up the Chaldeans...", so "behold" and "nations" belong inside that flow. In Habakkuk context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "behold" and "nations" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.