Habakkuk 1:3 (WEB)

Passage

Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:1 The revelation which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

Habakkuk 1:2 Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save?

Habakkuk 1:3 Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.

Habakkuk 1:4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.

Habakkuk 1:5 “Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "show", "iniquity", "look", "perversity", "destruction", "violence", "before", and "strife". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "show" and "iniquity", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Yahweh how long will I cry and..." into verse 4's "Therefore the law is paralyzed and justice...", so "show" and "iniquity" 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 "show" and "iniquity" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.