Habakkuk 1:13 (KJV)

Passage

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.

Habakkuk 1:12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

Habakkuk 1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Habakkuk 1:14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

Habakkuk 1:15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "purer", "eyes", "than", "behold", "evil", "canst", and "look". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "purer", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Art thou not from everlasting O LORD..." into verse 14's "And makest men as the fishes of...", so "thou" and "purer" 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 "thou" and "purer" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.