Habakkuk 1:14 (WEB)

Passage

and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:12 Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.

Habakkuk 1:13 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,

Habakkuk 1:14 and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

Habakkuk 1:15 He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.

Habakkuk 1:16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "make", "like", "fish", "creeping", "things", "ruler", and "over". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "make" and "like", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "You who have purer eyes than to..." into verse 15's "He takes up all of them with...", so "make" and "like" 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 "make" and "like" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.