Habakkuk 1:17
“Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Habakkuk asks whether God will let the conqueror keep emptying his net and slaughtering nations without end.
What Does Habakkuk 1:17 Mean?
The first round of complaint closes with a sharp question. Will Babylon be allowed to go on forever — emptying its net only to cast it again, never sparing, ceaselessly slaying nation after nation? The prophet cannot bear the thought of cruelty without limit, mercy without end.
Embedded in the question is a plea: surely this cannot continue indefinitely. Habakkuk's faith will not accept that evil has the last word, even when present evidence suggests it does. And the question is rightly aimed — at God, who alone can set a term to the conqueror's reign. The chapter ends in tension, but it is a tension stretched toward the Lord. The believer who asks "how long?" of God has already confessed that God is the one who decides when long enough has come.