Habakkuk 2:4 (LSB)

Passage

“Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 2:2 Then Yahweh answered me and said, “Write down the vision And write it on tablets distinctly, That the one who reads it may run.

Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It pants toward its end, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come; it will not delay.

Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.

Habakkuk 2:5 And indeed, wine betrays the haughty man So that he does not stay at home. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, And he is like death, never satisfied. He also gathers to himself all nations And assembles to himself all peoples.

Habakkuk 2:6 “Will not all of these lift up a taunt‑song against him, Even satire and riddles against him And say, ‘Woe to him who increases what is not his— For how long— And makes himself rich with loans?’

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "faith", "behold", "proud", "soul", "right", "within", "righteous", and "live". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "faith" and "behold", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "For the vision is yet for the..." into verse 5's "And indeed wine betrays the haughty man...", so "faith" and "behold" 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 "faith" and "behold" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.