Passage
Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!
Habakkuk 2:12 (ASV)
Nearby Context
Habakkuk 2:10 Thou hast devised shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thy soul.
Habakkuk 2:11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
Habakkuk 2:12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!
Habakkuk 2:13 Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?
Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "buildeth", "town", "blood", "establisheth", "city", and "iniquity". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "buildeth" and "town", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 11's "For the stone shall cry out of..." into verse 13's "Behold is it not of Jehovah of...", so "buildeth" and "town" 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 "buildeth" and "town" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.