Habakkuk 1:12 (LSB)

Passage

Are You not from everlasting, O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O Yahweh, have placed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to reprove.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:10 And they mock at kings, And rulers are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress And heap up dirt and capture it.

Habakkuk 1:11 Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, They whose power is their god.”

Habakkuk 1:12 Are You not from everlasting, O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O Yahweh, have placed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to reprove.

Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to see evil, And You cannot look on trouble. Why do You look On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they?

Habakkuk 1:14 And You have made men like the fish of the sea, Like creeping things without a ruler over them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "everlasting", "yahweh", "holy", "placed", "judge", "rock", and "established". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "everlasting" and "yahweh", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Then they will sweep through like the..." into verse 13's "Your eyes are too pure to see...", so "everlasting" and "yahweh" 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 "everlasting" and "yahweh" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.